Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The sharpbelly or wild carp, sharpbelly, or common sawbelly (Hemiculter leucisculus), is a tropical freshwater and brackish water fish belonging to the family Xenocyprididae. It originates in large streams and reservoirs in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, and the Amur River basin. It has become established as an exotic species in several other countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, and the former 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 of 7.0, a hardness 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, insects, crustaceans, algae, and detritus. It is of minor commercial importance, primarily in mainland China, where it is canned.
Wikipedia contributors, Sharpbelly; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:46:01.716595+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Hemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855)
- Name authority
- (Basilewsky, 1855)
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Cyprinidae
- Genus
- Hemiculter
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderCypriniformes
- familyCyprinidae Rafinesque, 1815
- subfamilyXenocypridinae Günther, 1868
- genusHemiculter Bleeker, 1860
- speciesHemiculter leucisculus (Basilewsky, 1855)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Hemiculter. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hemiculter lucidus (Dybowski, 1872) | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiculter krempfi Pellegrin & Chevey, 1938 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiculter varpachovskii Nikolskii, 1903 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hemiculter elongatus Nguyen & Ngo, 2001 | CyprinidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=281021 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:6LPMT. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.