Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Missouri
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Non-native bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp (H. molitrix) (together, the “bigheaded carps”) were imported to the United States in the 1970s. They escaped captivity, spread, and increasingly dominate Midwestern waterways. The Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association considers these Asian carps the most important invasive species in the basin. There is tremendous concern that these fishes will invade the Laurentian Great Lakes and have undesirable effects on existing fisheries.