grass carp

noun

plural grass carp also grass carps

: a freshwater cyprinid fish (Ctenopharyngodon idella) of eastern Asia that is olive-brown with a silvery-white belly and that has been introduced into non-native waters where it is often considered an invasive (see invasive entry 1 sense 1a) species

Native to Asia, grass carp were first imported here in 1963 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to evaluate as an alternative to herbicides and mechanical weed control.

—Carolyn Shea

Note: Grass carp, along with the related bighead carp, black carp, and silver carp, are often called Asian carp in the U.S.

called also white amur

Examples of grass carp in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His catches this past week consisted of peacock bass up to 5.5 pounds, snook, and largemouth bass to six pounds, chain pickerel, clown knife fish, grass carp and Mayan cichlids. —Alan Sherman, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024

That was pretty good evidence that the Sandusky had become a spawning ground for invasive grass carp. —Peter Krouse, cleveland, 7 Oct. 2022

Four species of carp were imported: first the grass carp, then the silver and bighead, and finally the black carp. —Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2012

The first introduction was the grass carp, or white amur, in the early 1960s. —Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2012

But grass carp are spawning in the Lake Erie watershed anyway. —cleveland, 10 Oct. 2022

The garden was next to a dark pond haunted by huge albino grass carp. —Robert Moor, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2022

Schools of small fish were seen in abundance over the weekend as well as several large grass carp. —al, 31 Aug. 2022

The only one of the four species found in Lake Erie so far is the grass carp. —Peter Krouse, cleveland, 30 Jan. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1885, in the meaning defined above