Ten lots of common carp and six lots of crucian carp (each lot of 100 fish) were treated under anoxia for five days at water temperatures of 25–31°C. The average per group mortality of common carp was 17%, but none of the 600 crucian carp died. The digestive tract tissues of the common carp that died had significantly lower zinc concentrations than those that survived (59 ± 41 vs 142 ± 60 μg/[g fresh tissue], P < 0.001). The digestive tract tissues of the crucian carp had mean zinc concentrations of 652 ± 458 μg/(g fresh tissue). One lot of common carp that had low tolerance for anoxia was fed a high zinc diet (2000 mg zinc/kg diet) for 1, 2 or 6 months and then subjected to 5 days anoxia. The survival rates of those fed the high zinc diet 1 and 2 months increased from 0 to 50%, respectively; all of fish that had fed a high zinc diet for 6 months survived. Thus, anoxia survival in common carp and crucian carp is closely related to the high concentrations of zinc in their tissues.
