Black carp

Black carp
Adult
Conservation status
Data Deficient (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Subfamily:	Squaliobarbinae
Genus:	Mylopharyngodon W. K. H. Peters, 1881
Species:	M. piceus
Binomial name
Mylopharyngodon piceus (J. Richardson, 1846)
Synonyms
Leuciscus piceus Richardson, 1846 Leuciscus aethiops Basilewsky, 1855 Myloleuciscus aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Myloleucus aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Mylopharyngodon aethiops (Basilewsky, 1855) Leuciscus dubius Bleeker, 1864 Barbus tonkinensis Sauvage, 1884 Myloleuciscus atripinnis Garman, 1912 Leucisculus fuscus Ōshima, 1920

The black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) or black Chinese roach is a species of cyprinid fish and the sole species of the genus Mylopharyngodon. It is native to lakes and rivers in East Asia, ranging from the Amur Basin, through China, to Vietnam.^[2] It is widely cultivated for food and Chinese medicine. One of the largest cyprinids in the world, the black carp can reach up to 1.9 m (6.2 ft) in length and 109 kg (240 lb) in weight.^[2] It generally feeds on snails, clams, and mussels. The typical length is 60–120 cm (23.5–47 in). Black carp, together with bighead carp, silver carp, and grass carp, make up the culturally important "four famous domestic fishes" used in polyculture in China for over a thousand years, and known as "Asian carp" in the United States. Black carp are not as widely distributed worldwide as the other three.

In China, black carp are the most highly esteemed and expensive foodfish among the four domestic fishes,^[3] and partly because of its diet and limited food supply, is the most scarce and expensive in the marketplace among the "four famous domestic fishes".^[4]

Black carp in the United States[]

The black carp was first accidentally introduced into the United States during a grass carp shipment from Asia in the 1970s.^[5] The black carp was later intentionally introduced to the US in the 1980s for use in retention ponds and aquaculture facilities to manage yellow grub and snails populations. It was also to be used as food fish. However, flooding in the South caused these populations of carp to spread into the Mississippi watershed.^[6] They continued to spread via the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, where they began to form wild populations. Black carp later began to migrate to connected river systems, and spread via continued flooding events. Aside from this, the population was also introduced via human release. The nature of the black carp's diet has led to its use in the United States in the control of snails in aquaculture. Snails are obligate alternate hosts of trematode pests that can cause substantial losses to aquaculture crops. Some state aquaculture laws require the carp to be bred as triploids, to render them sterile, thus minimizing the potential for the fish to escape and create self-sustaining populations. The use of triploids, though, does require the maintenance and use of fertile diploid brood stock at least at some location, for production of the triploids. A multitude of control methods has been used to control the population of Asian carp, including trapping, explosives, herding with noise or light, electrical and thermal barriers, bubble and noise walls, hydraulic modifications, and oxygen deprivation, but these control methods have not been successful at eliminating carp from any single area.^[6] The most effective methods, such as chemical poisoning, are successful at killing carp, but also affect the other fish in that body of water, further disrupting the ecosystem.

Currently, novel control methods are being researched that use carp pheromones to control their behavior.^[6] Another widespread effort involves using carp as a food source. Locals in areas where carp have invaded are encouraged to catch and eat them. Efforts to prevent Asian carp from spreading to crucial ecosystems such as the Great Lakes or waterways on the West Coast have been incredibly successful. Local laws prevent human release of these fish in these waterways, and population controls have also contributed to this success. No state allows the intentional release of black carp, sterile or otherwise, but the United States Geological Survey reports that more than 60 confirmed black carp have been caught in the Mississippi River basin. This basin is the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent. The Mississippi River spans 2320 miles, while the entire system covers 1,151,000 sq mi. The presence of black carp within this enormous river system means that this highly invasive species has the accessibility to a vast range of bodies of water covering the majority of the Midwestern United States, so could establish populations in a large area. Rivers where black carp have been captured also include the White in Arkansas, the Atchafalaya and Red in Louisiana, and the Kaskaskia and Illinois Rivers in Illinois. One confirmed escape of black carp from aquaculture has occurred on the Osage River in Missouri, but other escapes are likely, because most early captures were far from this location, in the southern Mississippi basin. Most of the captured fish have been confirmed to be diploid and assumed fertile. Two diploid fingerlings were captured in Missouri's bootheel in 2015,^[7] confirming natural reproduction of this species in the wild. In Louisiana, many other reports by knowledgeable fishers of their capture have not been verified by biologists.^[8] Black carp are considered to be a serious threat to mollusks native to the United States, many of which are critically endangered. In 2007, the black carp was listed as an "injurious species" under the Lacey Act.^[9] Transporting live black carp, whether sterile or fertile, into the United States or across state lines is thus illegal in most cases.

References[]

External links[]

• Species Profile- Black Carp (Asian Carp) (Mylopharyngodon piceus), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and reseources for black carp.