Black carp, used in aquaculture programs as biological control agents against snail-borne fish parasites were accidentally introduced into the wild when the Mississippi River inundated a private aquaculture facility in 1993. The first black carp captured in the wild was caught in 2003 by a commercial fisherman fishing in Horseshoe Lake in Alexander County, Ill. Black carp are extremely difficult to distinguish from their close relative the grass carp, a species already abundant and widespread in the basin. Grass carp are widely stocked for aquatic weed control purposes throughout the United States and overseas.

A number of resource managers from throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin have mistakenly reported finding the skeletal remains of black carp. The Carterville Fisheries Resource Office has developed a tool to educate and aid biologists in the identification of black carp. Pharyngeal arches from black, grass, and common carp will be used to teach resource managers how to distinguish between these fish, whether they have live specimens or skeletal remains. Seventy mounts prepared by Carolina Biological Supply were just returned to Carterville FRO. This educational tool will be distributed to state, federal and non-governmental natural resource offices throughout the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

Many private aquaculture facilities raise and ship both grass carp and black carp. Because these two species are similar in appearance, the possibility exists for black carp contamination in interstate, interbasin and even international shipments of grass carp. Educating natural resource managers about aquatic nuisance species, such as Asian carp, is an important step in protecting our large river ecosystems.