Carp Question.

[trappingaddiction]

Are mirror carp a genetic difference from a normal carp, or are they found mostly were regular common carp are not found?

[bobbymalone]

same thing as a common carp with a genetic mutation. same kinda thing as a white squirrel.

one might think that because it is a heritable trait that they might appear in clusters.... at least it's highly likely that a mirror carp has a bunch of brothers and sisters and a percentage of them would also be mirrors.

of course when you are talking about a low probability that fish make it to a catchable size and with fish going every which way after hatching you probably won't find a spot that is just mirrors.

[erickol]

I have caught three mirrors in my life. Two of them I caught on the fly in small streams. At both of these locations I saw one other mirror! (the third was bait caught in the Mississippi). I gotta believe that as the mutation shows up in a tight population of fish, and is successfully passed on, the chances of it being more common in that population would result??? the mirror mutation is so awesome. so many possibilities.

[mainbutter]

wikipedia says that mirror carp are genetically known as ssnn carp.. which would mean it would be caused by two recessive traits together.