Black carp

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Black carp
Adult

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Squaliobarbinae
Genus: Mylopharyngodon
Species:
M. piceus
Binomial name
Mylopharyngodon piceus
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 Chinese black roach is a

carnivorous and generally feeds on invertebrates such as snails, clams and mussels
.

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. It has also been introduced in the United States as one of the invasive "Asian carps", though it is not as widely distributed worldwide as the other three.

In China, black carp is widely cultivated for

food fish,[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]

Description

Black carp are elongated fish with a fusiform body. They appear dusky gray, brown or bluish black and have dark fins.

cycloid scales
on their body and a forked tail fin behind a broad caudal peduncle.

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.

Many mechanical control methods have been used to control the population of Asian carp, including use of noise, walls of bubbles, netting and even explosions, but these have only succeeded in slowing the spread of carp.[7] The most effective methods, such as chemical poisoning, are successful at killing carp, but also affect other fish in the body of water, further disrupting the ecosystem.[7]

Currently, novel control methods are being researched that use carp pheromones to control their behavior.[7][8] Another widespread effort involves using carp as a food source. Locals in areas where carp have invaded are encouraged to catch and eat them.[7] Efforts to prevent Asian carp from spreading to crucial ecosystems such as the Great Lakes or waterways on the West Coast are ongoing.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 2016,[11] a sign of 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.[12]

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 of 1900.[13] Transporting live black carp, whether sterile or fertile, into the United States or across state lines is thus illegal in most cases.

Anatomy and physiology

Black carp have enameloid teeth

cleithral bones.[5] There are four teeth on the left side and five teeth on the right side of the pharynx in adults.[14] As the black carp prepare to crush shelled prey, they forcibly occlude their pharyngeal teeth.[15] A horny patch above the pharyngeal teeth helps to position and hold the prey in place as it is crushed.[14] The pharyngeal teeth will be replaced multiple times during the life of the carp.[16]

Etymology

Generic name from Greek mylo- "mill" + New Latin pharynx- "throat" + Greek odon "tooth".[2] Specific name from Latin piceus "pitch-black."

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T166112A1112111.en
    .
  2. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2022). "Mylopharyngodon piceus" in FishBase. July 2022 version.
  3. ^ Chu, X. et al. 1989. The fishes of Yunnan China. Part 1. Cyprinidae. Science Press, Beijing, China.
  4. ^ Chu X. 1984.The fishes of Fujian Province. Part 1. Fujian Science and Technology Press, Fujian, China.
  5. ^
    doi:10.3996/112018-JFWM-102
    .
  6. ^ "Black carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus)". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Asian Carp: Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force" (PDF). Fws.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2020.
  8. doi:10.5066/P9K7KWM3
    . Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Asian Carp". Washington Invasive Species Council. Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  10. ^ Kaeding, Danielle (2021). "Efforts To Keep Asian Carp Out Of The Great Lakes Move Forward Under New Agreements". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  11. ^ Stafford, Margaret (5 March 2016). "Scientists: Discovery of young, wild black carp troubling". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  12. ^ Nico et al. 2005. Black carp: biological synopsis and risk assessment of an introduced fish American Fisheries Society Special Publication 32. 337 pp.
  13. ^ "Injurious Wildlife Species; Black Carp (Mylopharyngodon piceus), U.S. President. Rule". Federal Register. 72 (201): 59019–59035. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  14. ^
    doi:10.1002/adem.201200304
    .
  15. ISSN 0893-8849
    . Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  16. ^ Liu, Huanliang; Li, Hua; Zhai, Baoxiang; Liu, Wei (1990). "Post-Larval Development of the Masticating Apparatus of Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus(Richardson)". Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica. 14 (4): 310–320. Retrieved 21 July 2022.

External links

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