Odd-ball Fish Species

Fresh-water Drum: Also known as Sheepshead and Croaker.

Flesh quality highly variable. Fillets are thin relative to the width of the body.

Size is also variable with lengths from 10" to 18" being common.

Fresh-water Drum range map

Notable for being one of the few species of native fish that can effectively eat invasive Zebra and Quagga Mussels. Freshwater Drum are able to gnaw ZM and QM off of hard substrates due to the arrangement of their teeth.

One would think there would be a significant effort to stock them in waters within their native range.

Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Fast-growing, invasive Asian species. Eagerly consumes seaweed, grass-clippings, even the partially digested vegetation in cow and horse manure.

Not particularly efficient in converting nutrients to flesh.

Nutrients that escape cause algae blooms which can feed Silver Carp.

Production, million metric tons, Chinese fresh-water aquaculture, by species

Currently the most common species in Chinese, freshwater aquaculture. Chinese aquaculture often uses many species (as many as 10) in the same pond to capture all of the paths in the trophic curve and to hedge risks. Grass Carp is often grown with Silver Carp.

Silver Carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix)

Fast-growing, filter-feeding, non-native (i.e. invasive) fish that unlike most "carp" lacks the floating bones that are difficult to remove by filleting.

This is one of the carp species known to "jump" when startled. They weigh up to 80 pounds (although 20lb is more typical). Smacking one of these while water-skiing is life-changing.

The current belief is that they cannot reproduce in ponds but require rivers with flowing water.

Chinese poly-culture exploits the algae bloom from Grass Carp feeding to feed the Silver Carp "for free".