Cirrhinus molitorella is a freshwater cyprinid fish that naturally inhabits Asia waters at Mekong, Chao Phraya, Nam Theun, Xe Bangfai, the Nanpangjiang basins and also from the Red River in China and Viet Nam and Pearl River in China. It is found from midwater to bottom depths of lakes, reservoirs, and large and medium-sized rivers, occurring in rapids and slow deep reaches, thus preferring flowing water. This cyprinid makes a low mating call, with many bubbles coming up to the water surface when breeding. Because of anthropogenic disturbances such as the construction of dams, overfishing, and water pollution, the abundance and distribution range of this carp has declined. C. molitorella began to be cultured much later than Cyprinus carpio. It has been introduced to several countries, including Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan Province of China, and Hong Kong SAR. Although this species grows slowly and does not reach a large size as other carps and although it is difficult to harvest without draining, there are some advantages to rearing it: It can be reared in high density, its production rate is high, and it has good meat quality and high nutritional value, making it one of the most important species cultured in inland water bodies in southern China. Important wild information about depth range, migratory behaviours, and especially about home range and aggregation patterns of this cyprinid is still missing. Moreover, farming information about substrate availability and aggression is limited, and information about stress and malformations is missing so far. Further research taking this into account is needed to better assess and improve the welfare of C. molitorella in farms.
