Home/Species/ Grass Carp

Ctenopharyngodon idella

(Valenciennes, 1844)

Grass Carp

G5Secure Found in 3 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102594

Element CodeAFCJB07010

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassActinopterygii

OrderCypriniformes

FamilyXenocyprididae

GenusCtenopharyngodon

Concept Reference

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.

Conservation Status

Review Date1996-09-13

Change Date1996-09-13

Range Extent Comments

Native to Amur basin and flatland rivers of eastern Asia. Introduced in many localities in United States for control of aquatic vegetation. Widespread and increasing in lower and middle Mississippi Valley, spotty elsewhere. Natural reproduction has been recorded in the Mississippi, Missouri, Trinity (Texas), Red, and Washita (Oklahoma) rivers (Hargrave and Gido 2004).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Lakes, reservoirs, ponds, pools, and backwaters of large rivers. Tolerant of diverse conditions of temperature, oxygen level, and salinity. Eggs float until hatching.

Ecology

Strong schooling tendency. May cause increase in turbidity and alkalinity in waters where introduced; may compete with and prey upon native and exotic fishes (Sublette et al. 1990). In Arizona, biomass of largemouth bass increased in direct proportion to biomass of grass carp, perhaps because removal of vegetation by carp increased vulnerability of forage fishes to bass predation (see Sublette et al. 1990).

Reproduction

May spawn in spring and summer. Eggs hatch in 16-60 hours at 17-30 C. Sexually mature in 4-5 years in temperate areas. May live 15-20 years or more.

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNA

Province	Rank	Native
New Hampshire	SNA	No
New Jersey	SNA	No
Mississippi	SNA	No
Iowa	SNA	No
Arizona	SNA	No
Oregon	SNA	No
Delaware	SNA	No
West Virginia	SNA	No
New Mexico	SNA	No
Wisconsin	SNA	No
Colorado	SNA	No
Oklahoma	SNA	No
Illinois	SNA	No
Indiana	SNA	No
Arkansas	SNA	No
South Dakota	SNA	No
California	SNA	No
Pennsylvania	SNA	No
Florida	SNA	No
New York	SNA	No
Texas	SNA	No
Nevada	SNA	No
Kentucky	SNA	No
Wyoming	SNA	No
Kansas	SNA	No
North Dakota	SNA	No
Louisiana	SNA	No
Michigan	SNA	No
Alabama	SNA	No
Nebraska	SNA	No
Virginia	SNA	No
Maryland	SNA	No
Idaho	SNA	No
North Carolina	SNA	No
Washington	SNA	No
Navajo Nation	SNA	No
Tennessee	SNA	No
Georgia	SNA	No
Ohio	SNA	No
Missouri	SNA	No

CanadaNNA

Province	Rank	Native
Saskatchewan	SNA	No
Quebec	SNA	No
Ontario	SNA	No
Alberta	SNA	No

Roadless Areas (3)

Arizona (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Pinaleno	Coronado National Forest	130,920

North Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Balsam Cone	Pisgah National Forest	10,591

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Seng Mountain	Jefferson National Forest	6,428

References (14)

Bath, D.W. and J. M. O'Connor. 1982. The biology of the white perch, MORONE AMERICANA, in the Hudson River Estuary. Fish. Bull. 80(3):599-610.
Bonar, S. A., B. Bolding, and M. Divens. 2002. Effects of triploid grass carp on aquatic plants, water quality, and public satisfaction in Washington state. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 22:96-105.
Douglas, N. H., and R. J. Jordan. 2002. Louisiana's inland fishes: a quarter century of change. Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings (43):1-10.
Hargrave, C. W., and K. B. Gido. 2004. Evidence of reproduction by exotic grass carp in the Red and Washita rivers, Oklahoma. Southwestern Naturalist 49:89-93.
Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
Moyle, P. B. 2002. Inland fishes of California. Revised and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley. xv + 502 pp.
Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.
Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 314 pp.
Sublette, J. E., M. D Hatch, and M. Sublette. 1990. The fishes of New Mexico. University New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 393 pp.