Silver_carps

= __**Silver Carps**__  =

**__General information__**
The Hypophtalmichthys Molitris, also known as the Silver Carp, is part of seven Asain native species, introduced to the United States. The other six are, the Big Head Carp, Black Carp, Grass Carp, Common Carp, Crucian Carp, and believe it or not, the Goldfish(1). The Silver Carp can weigh up to 100 pounds, and be over 3 feet in length. It is a silver color, but usually will fade to a greenish color when older. It can leap 10 feet into air, causing troubles with fishermen, and anyone on a boat(2).

__Detailed Description__
It takes 3 years for the Silver Carp to mature enough to bread, and once there, it'll keep reproducing until the age of ten. Usually they will breed between April and September, when the temperature is nice and warm(2). They are filter feeders, and they eat Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Bacteria, and Detritus. They usually live in fresh waters, with slow moving or standing water. They are dangerous because they feed on Phytoplankton, causing damage to other species in the area. They are direct competitors with other native fish and are hazardous to humans because of how high they jump.



__Habitat and Distribution__
Originally they came from north and northeast Asia, and are cultivated in China, in low land rivers(3). They can be found in abundance in the Amura river, which runs in both China and Russia. They can be found in other lowland areas, but require rivers to reproduce(4).

They were broguht here from Asia to control Phytoplankton in bodies of waters, they were strictly controlled, but after a while they started discovering natural waters, mostly attributed to the escape of fish eggs. In 1981, the silver carp was found in natural waters in Arkansas, and now in Mississippi(4).





__Impacts__
The Silver Carp has both good and bad impacts on our country. In the environment they increase turbidity, because of the increased pollution of small algae. This effects site feeding predators, resulting in reproduced growth of Macrophytes. Though, they are meant to decrease the amount of algae, which they do well, they only do so to large ones, and with them gone it is easier to increase the amount of smaller Plankton's. They cause a shift in the food chain, and decrease Planktivores, such as Paddlefish, Big Mouth Buffalo, and Gizzard Shard(3).

Their effect on humans can be both good and bad. They can be used as a food source, and are used in making vacuum-packed sliced fillets, canned fish with oil, tomato sauce, mayonnaise, cream, mustard, and other sauces. They do also help control many algae levels, seeing as thats why they were brought here(3). They also pose as a danger, because of their high jumping, and can injure fishermen.

__Control Measures__
They're is plenty of control measures to get rid of the Silver Carp, though some show to be flukes. One of the biggest one is for fisherman, if they do catch one, they are supposed to kill it, and not release it back into where they have found it, and properly report it. Just recently, there was an effort made, to poison the fish, but it didn't work, and only one Carp was found dead, while many other fishes were killed in this process. Another failed attempt was to net them, while they were traveling upstream, and this time none was found(5).

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__Works Cited__
1) U.S. Fish & WIldlife Service. Asian Carp Management. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. . 2) State of Indian Government. "Silver Carp." Aquatic Invasive Species (Mar. 2005): n. pag. PDF file. 3) The Mississippi River Basin Panal. "Asain Carp." Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association. N.p., 30 Apr. 2004. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. . 4) Kolar, Cindy S., Duane C. Chapman, and Dawn P. Jennings. "Asian Carps of the Genus Hypophthalmichthys (Pisces, Cyprinidae)." A Biological Synopsis and Environmental Risk Assessment (Apr. 2005): n. pag. PDF file.  5) Smith, Kim. "Mission: Impossible? ." The Fox Valley Villages Sun 13 Dec. 2009: n. pag. Web. 14 Dec. 2009. .