Sharpbelly

{{Short description|Species of fish}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Hemiculter leucisculus Taijiang National Park.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Thinh, D.V. |author2=Van, N.S. |author3=Huckstorf, V. |author4=Nguyen, T.H.T. |date=2012 |title=Hemiculter leucisculus |volume=2012 |page=e.T166193A1118671 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T166193A1118671.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| taxon = Hemiculter leucisculus

| display_parents = 3

| authority = (Basilewsky, 1855){{Cof genus|genus=Hemiculter|access-date=22 January 2025}}

| synonyms = {{Specieslist

| Culter leucisculus | Basilewsky, 1855

| Squaliobarbus annamiticus | Tirant, 1883

| Culter balnei | Sauvage, 1884

| Hemiculter kneri | Warpachowski, 1887

| Hemiculter schrencki | Warpachowski, 1888

| Hemiculter kneri | Kreyenberg & Pappenheim, 1908

| Parapelecus eigenmanni | D. S. Jordan & Metz, 1913

| Hemiculter eigenmanni | (D. S. Jordan & Metz 1913)

| Cultriculus aokensis | Ōshima, 1920

| Parapelecus elongatus | Mori, 1927

| Kendallia goldsboroughi | Evermann & T. H. Shaw, 1927

}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

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 {{convert|23.0|cm|in|abbr=on}} 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 {{convert|18|to|22|C|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. In Hong Kong, it is not favored as a table fish because the flesh is unpalatable and very bony.