Overview
Black carp are one of four non-native fish species that belong to a group commonly referred to as invasive carp. Native to eastern Asia, black carp were introduced to the United States during the 1970s to 1980s in imported, contaminated grass carp stocks which were shipped to private fish farms and introduced as a biological control agent in aquaculture farms to stop the spread of disease-carrying pests like yellow grub (Clinostomum margaritum) and snails in aquaculture ponds. They were also imported as a potential food source. By the 1990s, black carp had escaped into the Mississippi River drainage due to high water flooding events.
Identification Numbers
Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
Their body varies from brown to black in color with a bluish-grey to white belly. They have a keel from their pelvic fin to the anal fin. The fins are brownish-black or black with lighter color at the bases. The scales are large and overlapping with dark edges giving them a cross-hatched appearance.
Black carp have an elongated, laterally compressed body with a pointed head that flattens at the anterior portion. They have a keel from their pelvic fin to the anal fin. The dorsal fin is short, pointed and inserted above the pelvic fins. The origin of the dorsal fin is closer to the base of the caudal fin than to the tip of the snout. Dorsal fin contains seven to nine soft rays, while the anal fin contains eight to 10 soft rays. The pectoral fins are long and reach the pelvic fins. The caudal fin is forked and deeply emarginate with equal lobes. Both the dorsal and anal fins lack spines. The scales are large and overlapping with dark edges giving them a cross-hatched appearance. Mouth is small, terminal and lacks barbels. Black carp have a toothless mouth, but contain a pharyngeal apparatus, also known as throat teeth, that typically form a single row of four to five large molariform teeth on each of the two arches. Their upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw.
Black carp are benthic fish which tend to stick close to the bottom of the water column, and rarely come to the surface. They do not leap out of the water like silver carp.
Black carp are the large, benthic fish with adults averaging around 33 pounds (15 kilometers), but can weigh upwards of 150 pounds (70 kilometers).
Food
When they're young, black carp feed primarily on zooplankton, insect larvae and detritus. As adults, they switch to feeding primarily on mussels and snails, using their pharyngeal, or throat, teeth to crush the shells. They also feed on freshwater shrimp, crayfish and insects.
Life Cycle
Black carp become sexually mature around 4 to 6 years of age. Adults migrate upstream to turbulent sections of river for reproduction during late spring and summer when water temperatures, and or, water levels rise. Both male and females are broadcast spawners. Females release hundreds of thousands of eggs into flowing water. After fertilization, the eggs become semi-buoyant and develop in the pelagic zone as they drift downstream. They hatch in one to two days, depending on water temperatures, and the yolk sac is absorbed in six to eight days, by which time larvae enter nursery areas like flood plains and backwater habitats to develop and grow before entering deeper pools of the main river or lake as adults.
Adult black carp spawn and fertilize eggs in turbulent waters of rivers where the current drifts eggs downstream for several days. After they hatch, larvae settle into nursery areas that consist of small streams, floodplains and backwater habitats that have little to no current. Larvae and young carp remain in the quiet backwaters until migrating out to deeper pools of large rivers and lakes as adults. Black carp become sexually mature around 4 to 6 years of age, during which they migrate upstream to turbulent waters in late spring and summer to spawn.
Black carp have been reported of living upwards of 15 years.
Habitat
Black carp prefer deeper habitats of rivers and lakes and need long stretches of turbulent river for successful spawning.
Similar Species
Grass carp are also from rivers and lakes of eastern Asia, like black carp, and have been introduced in many of the same areas. Grass carp physically look similar to black carp, but their diets are different. Grass carp are primarily herbivores feeding on aquatic vegetation, whereas black carp feed on mollusks and other invertebrates.
While black carp tend to be darker in color and have a more pointed snout and more subterminal mouth, grass carp tend to be lighter in color - olive-brown above and silvery white below - and have a rounder, more blunt snout, with a more terminal mouth. When viewed from above, the upper lip of the grass carp is visible, whereas the upper lip of black carp is generally not visible when the mouth is fully closed. This distinction is only useful for adult carp, because the upper lip of young black carp can be visible when looking from above the fishes head. The two carp species also have slight differences in their lateral lines. Grass carp have a lateral line that takes a downward dip for the first six to eight scales before remaining relatively straight for the rest of fishes body whereas black carp have a lateral line that remains relatively straight moving from the operculum posterior, with a slight dip starting around the dorsal fin. These morphological and external characteristics can be subtle and difficult to distinguish at times.
The best methods for distinguishing the two species involve internal methods. One distinguishing characteristic is their digestive tract. Grass carp feed on aquatic vegetation and have a different digestive tract than black carp. Grass carp have a longer intestine than black carp - 2.5 meters versus 1.25 meters - and the gastric mill, a muscular portion of the gut, of the grass carp has a tubercular surface, whereas the black carp has a concave surface with a small rise posteriorly which juts into the convex part in the form of a corner. The other distinguishing characteristic is their pharnygeal teeth. Grass carp pharnygeal teeth have prominent grooves with serrations, whereas black carp teeth lack serrations and are more molar-like with a wide surfaces.
Behavior
Black carp are benthic fish which tend to stick close to the bottom of the water column, and rarely come to the surface. Black carp have the potential to negatively impact threatened and endangered mollusks, fish, turtles and birds that rely on mollusks as a food source. Based on its dietary habits, the black carp is likely to invade the habitat, feed on and further threaten most of the federally listed freshwater mussels, and about one third of the federally listed aquatic snails, as well as numerous potential candidates for federal protection.
Due to their habits, black carp are difficult to study so little data is available about this species when compared to other carp, like grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) and bigheaded carps (Hypophthalmichthys sp.). More research is needed to learn about the habits and negative impacts of black carp in the United States.
Geography
Black carp are one of four nonnative fish species belonging to a group commonly referred to as "invasive carp". Native to eastern Asia, Black carp were introduced to the United States during the 1970's to 1980's in imported, contaminated grass carp stocks shipped to private fish farms and introduced as a biological control agent in aquaculture farms to stop the spread of disease carrying pests such as Yellow Grub (Clinostomum margaritum) and snails in aquaculture ponds. They were also imported as a potential food source. By the 1990's, Black carp had escaped into the Mississippi River Drainage due to high water flooding events. Black carp prefer deeper habitats of rivers and lakes and need long stretches of turbulent river for successful spawning. Young carp feed on zooplankton and insect larvae, and transition to mollusks as adults. They can live up to 15+ years and can reach upwards of 5ft long and 150 pounds. Black carp can currently be found in the Mississippi and Ohio River drainages in the following states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and West Virginia. They are currently listed as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act by the USFWS which prohibits the importation into or transportation between the continental United States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States of live black carp, gametes, viable eggs, and hybrids. Black carp have the potential to negatively affect threatened and endangered mollusks, fish, turtles, and birds that rely on mollusks as a food source. Based on its dietary habits, the black carp is likely to invade the habitat, feed on, and further threaten most of the federally listed freshwater mussels and about one third of the federally listed aquatic snails, as well as numerous potential candidates for Federal protection.
Black carp are native to the Amur, Yellow, Huai, Yangtze and Pearl river basins and possibly several smaller basins of eastern Asia including China, Russia and northern Vietnam.
Black carp have been widely introduced outside of their native range. Some international introductions include Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Ukraine, Albania, Romania, Turkmenistan, Germany, Israel, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama, South Africa, Mexico and the United States. Within the United States, black carp escaped from aquaculture facilities into the Mississippi River by the 1990s and have expanded into the Cumberland, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and White rivers. They have been reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Currently under the Lacey Act, black carp are listed as injurious wildlife by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which prohibits the importation into or transportation between the continental United States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any territory or possession of the United States of live black carp, gametes, viable eggs and hybrids.