"This book covers everything the crucian fan could wish to know, and then some! From fishing methods to diet, to ID and the ancestry of the fish, thorough is hardly the word. You can read about its “superpowers” of survival, how the plucky crucian’s body shape changes according to its needs, and even (at last!) a scientific look at the old theories of how birds spread fish eggs. Literature and even cuisine are covered. In short, there’s more to this plucky cult species than meets the eye- and I’d recommend this to fishery owners as well as anglers. However, most vital of all is the joining of dots between the crucian and wider ecology. You sense the author’s mourning at all the biodiversity and habitat we’ve lost; but if we could only restore some of the crucian’s strongholds, what wider riches we could bring back. Like Mark’s other work on small fishes (he’s also written guides to gudgeon, silver bream and ruffe), a work of such depth and clarity feels important. Because while such books won’t sell a million, they not only keep the fire burning for cult angling species, but set down knowledge that might otherwise be lost."Dominic Garnett, angling writer and West Country guide, UK"A book of this kind must stand or fall according to the quality of the information it contains and Mark does us proud, as is demonstrated by the detailed Contents page, the thorough Bibliography, the careful Index and the many pages of References. The book is a treasure trove of facts. We are given an extremely full description of the fish and its fellow Carassius species. He is thorough in his treatment of the dangers of hybridisation and back-crossing, explaining where further research needs to be done. He makes out an excellent case for the indirect contribution of crucians to biodiversity in a countryside increasingly under threat. The author’s enthusiasm for this most intriguing fish is clear and his book is full of interest for any crucian student."Peter Rolfe, author and angler, host of The Crucian Website, www.crucians.org"This publication is the most comprehensive look at Crucians to date, offering a look at their wider cultural importance too. Over the last few decades, something changed to virtually eradicate valuable pockets of wildlife, seeing a catastrophic loss of freshwater fauna, and it all stemmed from a lack of care or disregard for what is going on beneath the water’s surface. The author rallies against these threats, unequivocally celebrating the Crucian across three extensive and well-referenced sections and leaving no room for legislators or industrialists to further ignore or take for granted this species. His love of the cyprinids shines through with an extensive overview of their taxonomy, mysteries of their origin, similar species annotated with photographs, and an immensely useful table created for the purpose of discerning species (and hybrids) from one another. Crucians (Carassius carassius): Biology, Ecology, Angling and Culture is honest from the start, doing exactly what is says on the tin, yet somehow it undersells itself. Covering a single species with as much detail as this is nothing other than a love letter, and you can’t truly appreciate this until you leaf through."Joshua Pickett in British Wildlife Magazine, Winter 2025"Mark explains the crucian's Asian roots and why the science remains uncertain and points to many superpowers that this carp-like fish has, not least that it is elastic. I particularly enjoyed the evocation of times past introduced early in the book and that provides context for much of the detail and discussion that follows. That this is a beautiful little fish that graces artists canvases, colour plates in ichthyological tomes, and postage stamps yet is entirely edible for those who would eat it, is described. For me, and I suspect Mark, its value is the joy it brings in simply finding it in those few remaining wild places where it lives, fastidiously identifying it, and a possibility of catching it. Should we be empirical about this value or simply know it and seek to preserve it?"Marcus McAuley for the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) March 2025
