Black Carp in North America: a Description of Range, Habitats, Time of Year, and Methods of Reported Captures

Abstract

Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus are considered invasive in North America. Since the first wild capture in 2003, collection records have increased, yet information summarizing successful collection methods is lacking. Reported capture methods throughout the Black Carp's native and introduced ranges vary providing minimal aid for determining control and monitoring methods. Here, we describe the current species range and the spatial and temporal variation among captures. The size of fish can affect capture; thus, we report captured fish and gear dimensions and recommend appropriate scientific collection methods. We focus on collection data from 302 Black Carp ranging from 410 to 1,607 mm total length received from 2011 to February 2019. The reported range of Black Carp has expanded in the Cumberland, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers. Captures most frequently occurred in channel (41%), side‐channel (24%), and backwater (22%) habitat types, with increased records in May, June, and July. Most records were commercial captures, of which hoop net (51%) and gill net (26%) were most common. Results suggest that standard scientific methods for sampling fish in large rivers and standing water by hoop net and gill net may be used to monitor Black Carp, but a robust study design needs to be applied to determine gear selectivity and to determine if catch rates are density dependent or incidental.

Effects of bigheaded carp on larval Freshwater Drum diets

“…are listed as threatened species (Williams et al 1993) and are now at greater risk due to the establishment of Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus (Kroboth et al 2019). We hypothesized that increasing bigheaded carp abundance, river discharge, and larval fish abundance would be negatively associated with foraging success and the abundances of prey in larval guts, while the environmental abundances of zooplankton prey taxa and water temperature would be positively associated with foraging success and prey abundances in larval guts.…”

“…The Freshwater Drum is abundant in large rivers (Butler 1965; Jacquemin et al 2014), highly fecund (Rypel 2007), and long‐lived (Pereira et al 1995), and it exhibits protracted spawning (Bosley and Conner 1984). Importantly, Freshwater Drum are also hosts to the parasitic glochidia of several native mussel taxa (Sietman et al 2018), many of which are listed as threatened species (Williams et al 1993) and are now at greater risk due to the establishment of Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus (Kroboth et al 2019). We hypothesized that increasing bigheaded carp abundance, river discharge, and larval fish abundance would be negatively associated with foraging success and the abundances of prey in larval guts, while the environmental abundances of zooplankton prey taxa and water temperature would be positively associated with foraging success and prey abundances in larval guts.…”

Quantifying the probability of invasive carp introduction via freshwater diversions: Arrival Assessment

“…Black carp escaped into nearby rivers from aquaculture ponds during periods of flooding (Nico et al, 2005). Compared to other species of native and invasive carp, little is known about the black carp's distribution, abundance, density, size/age distribution, spawning grounds, or prey species in the U.S., and the species has been substantially less‐studied than bighead or silver carp (Kroboth et al, 2019; Nico & Jelks, 2011). Nonetheless, black carp are believed to have a high potential to negatively impact aquatic communities through their direct consumption of native mussels and snails (Nico et al, 2005; Poulton et al, 2019; Wui & Engle, 2007).…”

Invasive Black Carp as a Reservoir Host for the Freshwater Mollusk Parasite Aspidogaster conchicola: Further Evidence of Mollusk Consumption and Implications for Parasite Dispersal

“…Black Carp is characterized by molariform pharyngeal teeth adapted to crush mollusk shells during feeding (Liu et al 1990;Shelton et al 1995;He et al 2013). The known molluscivorous habits of Black Carp-in combination with the expanding geographic range of wild fish within the Mississippi River Basin (Kroboth et al 2019)-have led to concern that they may threaten populations of native and imperiled unionid mussel species in the United States (Nico et al 2005;DeVaney et al 2009;Nico and Jelks 2011;Hodgins et al 2014). Most of the research available on Black Carp has been based on aquaculture studies.…”