4 Sep 2025

The Edge of Crisis: Discovery of Young of Year Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus (Richardson, 1846) in the Lower Mississippi River

Abstract: Understanding changes in the status of invasive species is important to managers in order to prevent or minimize impacts to native communities. Out of the four invasive carp imported to the U.S. from Eastern Asia, black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus have been generally overlooked due to the difficulty in capturing these fish even using targeted efforts. Because of this, limited resources have been channeled towards managing this species. Concerns over the expansion of black carp have been expressed, but direct evidence of reproduction in U.S. waters was lacking until young of year black carp were caught in tributaries of the Middle Mississippi River in 2015. This remained the known extent of the naturalized invasion until fish community surveys conducted in the fall of 2022 and 2023 documented young of year black carp in three oxbow lakes connected to the mainstem Lower Mississippi River. These collections provide evidence for increased population growth and exhibit expanding threats to the diverse mussel communities native to the Lower Mississippi River basin.