[Birds chirping, a duck quacks]
Invasive Asian carp continue to pose a threat to our country’s waterways.
In the United States there are four types of invasive Asian carp: bighead carp, silver carp,
grass carp and black carp.
Each type of Asian carp poses a unique threat to our country’s freshwater lakes and rivers,
and in turn native aquatic animals.
This video will help you learn how to identify black carp using grass carp as a point of comparison.
Similar to other species of Asian carp, the black carp
is a fast growing fish with a voracious appetite.
What is unique about the black carp is that it prefers to eat snails and mussels.
With powerful teeth that resemble human molars, a grown black carp is capable of eating up
to four pounds of mussels in a day.
This can have a devastating impact to our native mussels, many of which are already
threatened or endangered.
Grass and black carps are easy to confuse since they are similar in body shape, size
and fin placement.
They also both have large scales.
A black carp has a few physical characteristics that can help distinguish it from a grass carp.
In coloration, they are not always truly black as their name suggests.
They can also be found in shades of blue-gray, or dark brown, with darkly pigmented fins.
In contrast, grass carps are silvery white, or olive-brown above and silvery below, and
most fins are dusky in color.
When compared side-by-side, black carps are typically darker in coloration than grass carps.
Black carps also have narrower heads than grass carps, with a more pointed nose or snout.
The gill cover, or operculum, on a black carp is also longer than a grass carp’s, which
contributes to the appearance of an elongated head.
When you view the head of an adult black carp from above, its top lip should NOT be visible
when its mouth is closed.
If you can see the line of the fish’s top lip, then you are most likely looking at a
grass carp.
Black carp is an emerging threat in many states.
Natural resource agencies are therefore interested in knowing the locations where these fish
are found, their size and age, sexual reproductive status and their diet in the wild.
Due to the physical similarities of grass and black carps, accurate identification can
be tricky.
When in doubt, make sure the fish is dead and put it on ice, but don’t freeze it.
Then call your local conservation, department of natural resources, or fisheries office.
Remember, both grass and black carps are invasive species, so never put live fish back in the water.
It is important to know that black carp is also list as injurious under the Lacey Act.
This means that it is illegal to transport live black carp across international and state lines.
Though hopefully rare, there is a chance that you might encounter a young black carp.
Due to their similar characteristics, young black and grass carps are extremely difficult
to distinguish from each other and other fish in the carp and minnow family.
If you think you have found a young black or grass carp, put it on ice, but don’t
freeze it, and contact your local natural resources agency.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about how you can identify black carp.
For more information on how federal, provincial, state and local partners are working together
to control and manage Asian carp, please visit www.AsianCarp.us