Identify the Carp Family

You need to identify the carp family to help manage these species. In the United States, we have good carp and bad carp. If you release an invasive species back into the water. It may be a crime.

The common carp is a naturalized species. This is a European fish. It is not a threat to other species. The Asian species pose risks to our waterways. These include black, silver, bighead, and grass carp that are able to breed.

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There are grass carp that are sterile. Biologists and others use the fish to manage plant growth in some waters. They use grass carp that can breed also. Your state will list the waterways. The state will regulate the fish also. You may have to release it unharmed.

Carp are members of the minnow family. This accounts for the rapid reproduction by the invasive members of the carp family. The Asian carp lay up to one million eggs per year.

Also, a few fish look like carp to some degree. I will add these fish for you to be able to identify them. Anglers need to know how to identify all families of fish. The pike family is hard to identify also.

Members of the Carp Family

Common Carp

You find the common carp in most states. The fish easily grows to 5-10 pounds in size. They do get much larger also. Carp weighing 25-30 pounds are not uncommon in many waterways.

This fish has a large dorsal fin, broad body, and is a golden color. The mouth has a slightly downwards position with a few barbels (whiskers) around it.

A mirror carp is a sub-species of the common. It has fewer scales. The scales are splotchy also. It is a mutation of the common carp. The other features are the same.

Buffalo

People often mistake Buffaloes for carp. You will find this fish in many river systems. It is a fish native to North America. You will find the fish with common carp also. Buffaloes come in small and large-mouth species.

The fish has a stout body appearance. The dorsal fin appears short but drops low after a few inches. The front has a sharp peak sloping to the low part. The color is olive-brown to golden.

Crucian Carp

A crucian carp is rare in North America. The fish looks like a goldfish but is different. The chance of catching one is low stateside.

The color is golden copper with reddish fins. The dorsal and anal fins have serrated, spinelike rays. The fish does not have the barbels around its mouth. The body is deep but compressed side to side.

Suckers

Suckers include many subspecies. There are redhorse, hognose, silver, and other suckers. Suckers are native fish in North America. You find the fish in rivers and streams, their natural habitat. Some lakes and ponds have a population also.

Suckers have long leaner bodies compared to common carp or buffaloes. They lack barbels around the mouth. The mouth comes in different shapes and positions.

Plus the head is often shorter on many of the suckers. Colors vary from silver, gold, red, and gray. They may have several of these colors.

Silver Carp

Silver carp are a nuisance and invasive. These fish are in the Mississippi river basin. The fish destroy the food chain for native species. They are filter feeders consuming the small organisms at the base of the food chain.

Silver carp leap out of the water if startled. This is a hazard for boaters. In addition, you will find these fish in large schools. The waters lack predators to cull the numbers also. Bowfishing and nets are the methods of control.

The fish is silvery gray in color. The fins have sharp points and are short. The eyes are low on the head, looking out of place.

Bighead Carp

Bighead carp are an invasive fish also. This fish has many attributes of the Silver carp. The exception is, that they do not jump out of the water like the silver carp. In other aspects, the fish poses the same problems.

The color is a dark gray turning into a white on the belly. The head does not have scales, plus a protruding lower jaw. It has a smooth keel between the pelvic and anal fins. The eyes appear in an awkward downwards position also.

Grass Carp

Grass carp are herbivores (plant eaters). All levels of government use the fish for weed control in waterways. This is an acceptable practice. When the fish moves into other waterways, it can be a problem.

The fish will destroy weed growth other fish use as shelter. This makes the fish a low-level invasive species.

The fish is slender with large scales with dark edging. The head lacks scales. Their eyes are low and small. The color is olive-brown on top, silvery on the sides, and white on the belly. Plus a short dorsal fin with 7-8 rays or spines.

Black Carp

Black carp eat mollusks, clams, mussels, and snails. The fish controls the population of mollusks in some regions. In others, it is a problem consuming the mollusks native fish eat to survive.

The black is like the grass carp with a slender body. The fish have large scales. Also, the black carp has a blunt snout and teeth. The teeth resemble molars and are in the throat area of the fish. This fish is darker in color than a grass carp.

Conclusions

These are the species of carp you will find in North America. As you have read, some are good and a few are problems in our waterways. Check with your state’s regulating agency. They will inform you of the proper handling of each species of carp. Knowing the species helps to improve carp fishing for the future.