Head to head
Bighead Carp vs Silver Carp
The bighead carp and silver carp were introduced to the United States together in the 1970s and escaped into the Mississippi River system together, and they remain closely linked today as a combined ecological concern despite one notable difference in behaviour.
| Bighead Carp | Silver Carp | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Hypophthalmichthys nobilis | Hypophthalmichthys molitrix |
| Jumping behaviour | Not a prominent trait | Leaps dramatically when startled |
| Introduction era | 1970s, escaped after flooding | 1970s, escaped after flooding |
| Feeding method | Filter feeds on plankton | Filter feeds on plankton |
| Population trend in the US | Increasing | Established and spreading |
| Global conservation status | Least Concern | Near Threatened in native range |
| Range | Mississippi River basin | Mississippi River basin |
| Diet | Herbivore, filter feeder | Filter feeder |
Bighead Carp vs Silver Carp: common questions
Why does the silver carp jump out of the water but not the bighead carp?
The silver carp has a startle response that causes it to leap dramatically, sometimes several feet into the air, when disturbed by loud noises such as boat motors, a behaviour that has caused real injuries to boaters, while the closely related bighead carp does not display this same dramatic jumping habit despite sharing a similar filter-feeding lifestyle in the same rivers.
How did the bighead carp and silver carp both end up in American rivers?
Both species were deliberately introduced to the United States in the 1970s to control plankton in aquaculture ponds and wastewater treatment lagoons, and both escaped into the open Mississippi River system following major flooding in the 1980s and 1990s, after which they spread rapidly together throughout the same river basin.
Is the silver carp actually endangered in its native range?
Its global conservation assessment reflects population declines in its native range in China, driven largely by dam construction affecting the rivers it depends on there, a genuine native-range concern that exists alongside, and is essentially unrelated to, the species' enormous and still-expanding success as an introduced species in North America.