# Sharpbelly

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The **sharpbelly** or **wild carp**, **sharpbelly**, or **common sawbelly** (***Hemiculter leucisculus***), is a [tropical](/source/Tropical) [freshwater](/source/Freshwater) and [brackish water](/source/Brackish_water) [fish](/source/Fish) belonging to the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Xenocyprididae](/source/Xenocyprididae). It originates in large streams and reservoirs in [mainland China](/source/Mainland_China), [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan), [Hong Kong](/source/Hong_Kong), [Korea](/source/Korea), and the [Amur River](/source/Amur_River) basin. It has become established as an [exotic species](/source/Exotic_species) in several other countries, including [Iran](/source/Iran), [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan), and the former [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union), where it has displaced local species. It was originally described as *Culter leucisculus* by S. Basilewsky in 1855, and has also been referred to as *Chanodichthys leucisculus* and *Hemiculter leucisculus warpachowskii* in scientific literature.

The fish reaches a size up to 23.0 cm (9.1 in) long, and is native to fresh and brackish water habitats with a [pH](/source/PH) of 7.0, a [hardness](/source/Hard_water) of 15 DH, and a temperature of 18 to 22 °C (64 to 72 °F). It is green-gray on the back, and white in the belly.

The bulk of its diet includes [zooplankton](/source/Zooplankton), [insects](/source/Insect), [crustaceans](/source/Crustacean), [algae](/source/Algae), and [detritus](/source/Detritus). It is of minor commercial importance, primarily in mainland China, where it is canned. In Hong Kong, it is not favored as a table fish because the flesh is unpalatable and very bony.

## Parasites

As most fish species, the sharpbelly harbours several species of [parasites](/source/Fish_parasites). One of them is *[Paradiplozoon hemiculteri](/source/Paradiplozoon_hemiculteri)*, a [monogenean](/source/Monogenea) living on the [gills](/source/Gills).[2] This species is special in that the two hermaphroditic members of the couple are united for life.

## References

1. Jirsová, Dagmar; Ding, Xuejuan; Civáňová, Kristína; Jirounková, Eliška; Ilgová, Jana; Koubková, Božena; Kašný, Martin; Gelnar, Milan (2018). "Redescription of *Paradiplozoon hemiculteri* (Monogenea, Diplozoidae) from the type host *Hemiculter leucisculus*, with neotype designation". *Parasite*. **25**: 4. [doi:10.1051/parasite/2018004](https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2018004). [ISSN 1776-1042](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1776-1042). [PMC 5806537](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5806537). [PMID 29424339](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29424339)

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