At home, Tucker and his daughter examined the gut contents of the common carp. Because the common carp, itself an exotic species, has not been reported to feed extensively on this newly introduced mussel species in the United States, Tucker approached Alton Field Station colleague Fred Cronin with news of his discovery. Ill. This collection site has been monitored for zebra mussels since 1992 and is known to be heavily colonized by them.
Tucker reports that the field station has saved the beaks for future measurement.
Because there is a straight-line relationship between the length of the beak and the length of the zebra mussel itself, we will be able to determine the size of the zebra mussels each carp had eaten. Tucker believes that because the common carp is both widespread and numerous, its potential impact on zebra mussel populations is worth investigating. Some scientists propose importing potential zebra mussel predators in an attempt to control the exotic mussels, which concerns Tucker. The ability of these species as control agents should be investigated before other exotics are imported. Zebra mussels, recent invaders in North America, probably came from the Black and Caspian Seas by way of ship ballast water discharge.