| Black carp | |
|---|---|
| Adult | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Mylopharyngodon W. K. H. Peters, 1881 |
| Species: | M. piceus |
| Binomial name | |
| Mylopharyngodon piceus (J. Richardson, 1846) |
|
The black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus) is a species of cyprinid fish indigenous to China, and widely cultivated for food and Chinese medicine. It is the sole species of the genus Mylopharyngodon. 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. Black carp, together with bighead, silver, and grass carps, 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,[1] and partly because of its diet and limited food supply, is the most scarce and expensive in the marketplace.[2]
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, and thus minimize the potential for the fish to escape and create self-sustaining populations. However, the use of triploids does require the maintenance and use of fertile diploid brood stock at least at some location, for production of the triploids.
No state allows the intentional release of black carp, sterile or otherwise. However, the United States Geological Survey reported seven confirmed black carp were caught in the Mississippi River basin. Rivers where black carp have been captured also include the White in Arkansas, the Atchafalaya and Red in Louisiana, and the Osage in Missouri. Some of the captured fish have been confirmed to be diploid and assumed fertile; one has been confirmed to be a triploid and assumed sterile. In Louisiana, many other reports by knowledgeable fishers of their capture have not been verified by biologists.[3]
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.[4] It is thus illegal in most cases to transport live black carp, whether sterile or fertile, into the United States or across state lines. In states where legal, black carp can still be possessed.