Learn How to ID Asian carp

Asian carp are threatening West Virginia waters. You can help biologists track the movement of Asian carp by learning to identify them and reporting any sightings or captures:

Asian carp:

• Are fast growing
• Can weigh up to 100 lbs.
• Reproduce rapidly
• Have large appetites
• Eat plankton, which our native fish depend upon for food

Bighead Carp:

• Can weigh up to 100lbs and exceed 4 ft in length
• Have a very large head and toothless mouth with large gape    
• Adult fish are dark gray with dark blotches mostly on head and across the back                
• No scales on head
• No barbels on nose, unlike common carp
• Eyes set low on the face, below the midline of the body
• Scaleless ventral keel only extending only partway along belly
• Gill rakers are comb-like

Silver Carp:

• Are smaller than the bighead   
• Can weigh up to 60 lbs and exceed 3 ft in length              
• Are light silver in color without dark pigmentation and a white belly    
• Downward slanting mouth
• No scales on head
• No barbels on nose, unlike common carp
• Eyes set low on the face, below the midline of the body
• Scaleless ventral keel that extends to the throat
• Gill rakers that are fused together into a sponge-like matrix

 illustrations by Joe Tomelleri

Difference in the keels of the silver and bighead carp – USGS

Difference in the gill rakers of bighead and silver carp - USGS