Dear List Members,

        While electrofishing on the Great Miami River in the state of Ohio,
U.S.A., we caught a  common carp  (<italic>Cyprinus carpio)</italic>
which was extremely deformed.  The posterior portion right after the anal
fin went through some kind of torsion and developed upwards from and to a
ninety degree angle  to the anal fin. The way the caudal fin is set up,
it looks as if the individual should swim like a cetacean rather than a
fish. Internally, the fish's air bladder is situated on the other side of
the body away from the torsion, and I could not find any apparent gonads.
The intestines and pancrease also looked longer and more crooked than in
a normal carp's abdomen. This fish weighed almost 4.5 kgs, and the
operculum bones (which I harvest from carp in an attempt to age them)
were thicker than in a normal carp of this size.

        I'm just curious if anyone else has seen a deformity like this before,
and how common is it. Evidently from the size of this fish, it can
survive with this abnormal condition, and hopefully I can find the time
soon to estimate the age of the fish from hard structures. This is most
probably the most wierdly deformed fish of this size that I have ever
seen. Has anyone else seen a deformity like this one before, and does the
condition have a name?



                                                Thanks,

                                        Frank Buschelmann

Frank A.P. Buschelmann

Department of Biological Sciences

University of Cincinnati

PO Box 210006

Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0006

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(513) 556-9751


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