Crucian Carp can survive on dry land without oxygen?

Crucian Carp – (Carpin in Spain) can survive without oxygen for months!

I mention this as the breath taking news ties in nicely with my having the pleasure of several large Spanish Crucian Carp. In recent months we have been taking fish to the 3lb and into the 4lb bracket. Since the current UK record stands at 4lb 9oz. these fish are large and a real pleasure to catch. It’s not every day that you catch Crucian to this size, and before I digree it’s not everyday that scientists make a discovery like this: Fish physiologists from the Department of Biology, University of Oslo have recently announced that Crucian Carp can live for months without oxygen.

Professor Göran Nilsson from the University of Oslo in Norway, told delegates at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Experimental Biology that the Crucian carp, Carassius carassius, has evolved to cope with anoxia (a lack of oxygen to the body’s tissues).

Professor Nilsson says that the Crucian carp is able to change the structure of its gills to prevent them becoming anoxic, thereby avoiding suffocation.
Nilsson’s research also revealed that the Crucian Carp has unusual blood for a teleost fish and has a much higher affinity for oxygen than any other vertebrate known.

In order to cope with low oxygen levels, the carp produces tranquilizer like chemicals and alcohol, which allow the fish to go for days or even months without oxygen, depending on the water temperature, while still remaining active.

This is a very unique situation, which proves that evolution has solved the problem of anoxic survival millions of years ago, something that medical science has struggled with for decades with limited success».

It has to be said, that I don’t like to keep any of my fish out of water too long especially in the soaring heat, but if I do keep a Crucian Carp out of water longer than normal, now I probably wont stress as much.