Black carp

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indigenous to China, the black carp, Mylopharyngodon piceus is widely cultivated for food and for Chinese medicine. Its voracious character, however, has led to its introduction across Southern United States to control disease in aquaculture. The black carp grows to a length of up to three feet (1 m), and over 70 pounds (32 kg), generally feeding on snails and mussels. State aquaculture laws require the carp to be bred sterile and kept in captivity. In thirty years of widespread usage by aquaculture firms across the south, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has reported three individual black carp caught in the Mississippi River. There are also currently unsubstantiated claims of individual black carp having been caught along the Ohio River and Red River in the United States.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has not listed the black carp as an "injurious species," although an effort is currently underway to add the black carp to the injurious species list found in the Code of Federal Regulations.