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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Aquatic Invasives
  3. Fish and Other Aquatic Vertebrates
  4. Grass Carp

Grass Carp

Scientific Name

Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1844) (ITIS)

Common Name

Grass carp, white amur

Native To

Eastern Asia (NAS Database)

Date of U.S. Introduction

1963 (NAS Database)

Means of Introduction

Imported for aquaculture and for phytoplankton control (NAS Database)

Impact

Direct and indirect impacts via: competition for food; significant changes in the composition of macrophyte, phytoplankton, and invertebrate communities; interference with the reproduction of other fishes; decreases in refugia for other fishes; modification of preferred habitat; predation or competition when plant food is scarce. Has significantly altered the food web and trophic structure of aquatic systems by inducing changes in plant, invertebrate, and fish communities (NAS Database)

Grass carp

Grass carp, adult

Credit

Photo by Pam Fuller; U.S. Geological Survey

Source
Invasive.org.

Find more images

Spotlights

  • 2022 Virtual Invasive Carp Forum

    • Sep 15, 2022

    • DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.

    • On August 9, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hosted a virtual forum on invasive carp harvest and product use. This virtual event was convened in response to direction provided by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. Bighead, silver, black and grass carp – collectively referred to as ‘invasive carp’ – have been spreading in waterways across the United States and causing environmental damage since their introduction in the 1970s for use in aquaculture facilities and retention ponds. Provides access to the full recording of the forum, as well as the presentation slides.

  • Choose Copi: Eat Well and Do Good - State of Illinois Renames and Rebrands Asian Carp

    • Jun 22, 2022

    • Illinois Department of Resources.

    • Following more than two years of consumer research and planning, the State of Illinois unveiled "Copi," the new name for Asian carp, which is a play on “copious” – as that’s exactly what these fish are. By one estimate, 20 million to 50 million pounds of Copi could be harvested from the Illinois River alone each year, with hundreds of millions more in waterways from the Midwest to the Gulf Coast. The new name and brand are designed to address public misconceptions about this delicious top-feeding fish, which is overrunning Midwest waterways.

      Copi are mild, clean-tasting fish with heart-healthy omega-3s and very low levels of mercury. Increased consumption will help to stop them from decimating other fish populations in the Great Lakes and restore an ecological balance to waterways down stream.

  • Science and Innovation for Battling Invasive Carp

    • Mar 2022

    • DOI. USGS. Publications Warehouse.

    • The U.S. Geological Survey provides natural-resource managers with scientific information, risk assessment, and tools that can help to improve surveillance, prevention, and control strategies for managing invasive carp.
      Fact Sheet 2022–3012

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

Federally Regulated

  • Injurious Wildlife Listings - Keeping Risky Wildlife Species Out of the United States

    • DOI. FWS. Fish and Aquatic Conservation.

    • Includes species listed as injurious wildlife under the Federal Lacey Act (18 USC 42), which makes it illegal to import injurious wildlife into the U.S. or transport between the listed jurisdictions in the shipment clause (the continental U.S., the District of Columbia, Hawaii, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any possession of the U.S.) without a permit. An injurious wildlife listing would not prohibit intrastate transport or possession of that species within a State where those activities are not prohibited by the State. Preventing the introduction of new harmful species is the only way to fully avoid impacts of injurious species on local, regional, and national economies and infrastructure, and on the natural resources of the U.S.

      Injurious wildlife are wild mammals, wild birds, amphibians, reptiles, fishes, crustaceans, mollusks and their offspring or eggs that are injurious to the interests of human beings, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, wildlife or wildlife resources of the U.S. Plants and organisms other than those stated above cannot be listed as injurious wildlife. For more information, see What Are Injurious Wildlife: A Summary of the Injurious Provisions of the Lacey Act and Summary of Species Currently Listed as Injurious Wildlife.

Videos

All Resources

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Council or Task Force
Partnership
Federal Government
International Government
State and Local Government
Academic
Professional
Citations