Invasive carp including bighead carp black carp grass carp and silver carp are spreading across the mississippi river basin

Management actions including removal of these species on the leading edge of the invasion front are reliant on up to date information about which river reaches are inhabited by multiple life stages. A lot of monitoring of invasive carp occurs in mainstem rivers like the ohio river but carp are also known to use and reproduce in large tributaries. There is a need to understand which tributaries are likely to contribute to successful carp reproduction and how abundance of invasive carp species varies among tributaries. Our long term goal is to understand the potential role of ohio river tributaries in contributing to current and future invasive carp distributions. As a step toward this broader goal our project objectives are to 1. Identify tributaries to the ohio river most thermally and hydrographically suitable for invasive carp reproduction and 2. Quantify the current distribution and relative abundance of juvenile and adult invasive carp in tributaries to the ohio river nearest the invasion front. Objective 1 will be completed by collecting data on tributary temperature hydrology geomorphology and barriers to rank tributaries for reproductive suitability. Objective 2 will be completed by regular sampling (at least 4 times per year of major tributaries to the ohio river to characterize the current use of tributaries by invasive carp species. This project will inform the national management and control plan for bighead black grass and silver carps in the united states by providing basic information about habitat use and reproductive potential along the invasion front.