ZOO*402

ICHTHYOLOGY

In 2000, a new citing for the Bighead Carp,

Hypophthalmichthys sp.

discovered in Lake Erie waters.

Fig. A: The bighead carp, Hypophthalmichthys sp, an exotic species which was caught in a net on Lake Erie.

 

Fig. B: Craig Blackie and Dylan Weese are holding a very large carp, the bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys sp, which a fisherman had caught in his trap, in Lake Erie, and which an Axelrod Institute of Ichthyology collaborator, Bruce Morrison, brought to the Institute to be identified.

Fig. C: Craig Blackie and Dylan Weese hold a very large carp, the bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys sp. Note the position of the eye, which is positioned in the lower half of the head.

The bighead carp, Hypophthalmichthys sp., is a large, deep-bodied cyprinid native to eastern Asia, specifically, the Amur River drainage basin in China.

The bighead carp can get quite large, with individuals collected over 27kg (60 lbs).

Features: Dusky green on the back and sides. Relatively large head with oblique mouth and lower jaw protruding. Small eyes located on the lower half of the head.

It is a filter feeder, straining planktonic organisms with its long comblike gill rakers.

First recording of species in Lake Erie, in the year 2000.

Distribution: Southeast Iowa rivers including the Chariton River below Rathbun and the Mississippi River to Davenport, probably in the Missouri River. Ref. http://www.state.ia.us [accessed Nov. 8, 2000]

These exotic carp were introduced into the Mississippi River when private hatchery ponds were washed out in the state of Missouri.

(Ref. http://www.state.ia.us/government/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/iafish/minnow/bighead.htm)

Netting studies in the Mississippi River conducted by the Illinois DNR have found that bigheads school with paddlefish and may compete with the paddlefish for food. Because bighead carp eat plankton, it is feared that they will compete with young larval native fishes for food.

References:

http://www.state.ia.us/government/dnr/organiza/fwb/fish/iafish/minnow/bighead.htm [accessed Nov. 8, 2000]

Tucker, J.K., Cronin, F.A., Stone, J. and T.B. Mihuc, Center for Aquatic Ecology. The Bighead Carp (Hypothalmichthys nobilis in Reach 26 of the Mississippi River Illinois Natural History Survey Reports, Nov/Dec 1998 [accessed Nov. 8, 2000] http://www.inhs/uiuc.edu/pub/surveyreports/nov-dec98/bighead.html

If you have comments or suggestions,

please email me (marie Thérèse Rush) at:mrush@uoguelph.ca

Surtout, la pédagogie, c'est la raison qu'on crée des programmes!

Created: November 8, 2000