Jumping silver carp on the Tennessee River

Bighead carp ( Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) and silver carp ( Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), collectively known as bigheaded carps, are invasive carp species within the Mississippi River basin. In the early-1970s these species escaped from ponds where people introduced them to control algae (ICRCC). Invasive carp cause ecological and economic damage by outcompeting native species and disrupting...

Bighead carp and silver carp (collectively known as bigheaded carps) first escaped to the Mississippi River Basin in the 1970s and by 1989 had invaded the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The species threaten the economies and ecosystems for these rivers and are currently spreading upriver. USGS scientists are developing population-level models to help guide and inform control strategies and...