From the Field

The Illinois River Biological Station’s (IRBS) Upper Mississippi River Asian carp removal crew partnered with commercial fishermen to remove a record-breaking 87,500 pounds of silver, bighead, and grass carp from the Mississippi River as part of their annual intensive Asian carp harvest.

Learn about the American paddlefish—also called the spoonbill, spoonbill cat, shovelnose cat, and boneless cat—from the INHS Great Rivers Field Station!

Learn about the channel catfish, also known as the spotted catfish, fiddler, lady cat, chucklehead catfish, willow cat, and even blue cat, from the INHS Great Rivers Field Station!

“Asian carp” is the collective term that refers to bighead carp, silver carp, black carp, and grass carp. These invasive species were originally brought into the United States for aquaculture in the 1960s and 1970s, but through flooding, legal releases, and illegal releases, they have become established in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and beyond.