Crucian Carp

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Curly

Guest
Is there a fool proof way of telling the difference between "real" Crucians and the breed of goldfish that look very similar?

The reason I ask is, I fish a small pond from time to time which is full of Crucians (?), the owner has said to me that they are real Crucians but I am not too sure.

Thank's

Neil
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
I am no expert on this and would welcome other views.

To tell a true crucian you must look first of all at the dorsal fin which should be convex. The mouth should have no barbules and the lateral line should have a distict step in it.

When you pick up a true crucian it will attempt to curve it's body. This motion is quite distinctive.

I like crucians. I have found a lake not far from Doncaster with some good ones and I am looking forwad to some pleasant sessions with them this summer.
 
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Craig Smith

Guest
Most of Cruie/Goldfish I've caught have had fantail and elongated dorsal fin.
I'm lucky to have a fishery with a good head of true Cruie in 1 lake and cocktail Cruie in the other both containing some decent size and hard to catch fish.
 
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Andy Nellist

Guest
It is simple to tell the difference between a true crucian and a brown goldfish. the problem of identification is caused by the fact that Crucians can hybridise with other species including brown goldfish and the resulting hybrids can look very similar to Crucians.

At a practical level you can use visual characteristics like those given by Ron. There is also a picture of a Crucian in the Species Guide.
 
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Kevan Farmer

Guest
I seem to remember the only true way of telling the difference is to look at the jaw bones? I'm not 100% certain on this but it was an article by Alwynne Wheeler - sorry if the spelling is off. The sad part of the articel was tht it meant the fish had to be killed and disected to find out though.

Neil. Get off the phone line I'm trying to call you :)

Kevan
 
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steve shelley

Guest
The real crusian has 35 scales along the back from head to tail, and the imposter has only 32. I remember this from an article i read years ago (i think thats the right way round).
 
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