TOLEDO, Ohio — Officials say tests have confirmed that larvae from the invasive Asian grass carp have been found for the first time in the Great Lakes watershed.
The Blade reports a crew from the University of Toledo working with the U.S. Geological Survey found the larvae during sampling last June in the Maumee River, a Lake Erie tributary.
Grass carp, which have been found on the Maumee and Sandusky rivers, destructively feed on aquatic plants.
Researchers say the larvae discovery will help them understand what could happen if the grass carp’s ravenous cousins, Asian bighead and Asian silver carp, become established in the Great Lakes, threatening a fishery valued at $7 billion.
University of Toledo researcher Christine Mayer says wherever grass carp can spawn, bighead and silver carp can spawn as well.
