Blind Carp

[hammercarp]

I was out today for the afternoon. Amongst others I caught this totally blind carp. It looked like it had hatched that way. It was in great shape and even fought pretty good.

[smerchly]

It's amazing how a blind fish can survive and appear to be healthy when totally blind . It may also help prove that carp use their sense of smell to locate their food supply . Predatory fish such as pike may not survive long when their sight is lost .

I have caught carp and drum that had one eye and looked very healthy as expected ........but I haven't caught a fish that was totally blind . This carp was caught at the 12 Mile this summer . It still had one good eye ......

[hammercarp]

Carp are like the worlds most sophisticated spy satellite. They can detect the weak electric fields that life forms emit, they have taste buds and chemo receptors on the outside of their bodies, not just on their barbels but on places like the leading edges of their fins, they can pick up minute vibrations and have good hearing for a fish. They can detect salt / salinity in the water and follow it to it's source. They can pick up amino acids, the building blocks of protein that tell them a meal is close by. . They are very well equipped to find their food.

[devron88]

i caught a good sized drum last summer with one eye. The other was blown out pretty disgustingly

[george]

that's weird looking!