10 pounds of eggs found in large invasive fish caught in Oklahoma lake, state reports

Invasive bighead carp can weigh more than 88 pounds, and one caught last week in Oklahoma’s Grand Lake was close to that at 81.8 pounds.

However, it’s not the size of the fish that impressed state officials.

Instead, it was the stunning 10 pounds of eggs inside of it that caught attention, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation reported in a March 16 Facebook post.

The fish was caught, Thursday, March 10, by a paddlefish angler and measured at a little over 54 inches in length. The average length for adults is 55.1. inches.

The angler’s name wasn’t revealed, and the state did not say what happened to the fish. But samples were collected to support a Missouri State University study of bighead carp in the state’s river systems, officials said.

Bighead carp are native to southern and central China and “were first imported into the United States in 1973 by a private fish farmer” who thought the species could improve water, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

They got loose and marine scientists quickly determined bighead carp “deplete plankton stocks for native larval fishes and mussels.”

Plus, the agency says, the fish “lack a true stomach, which requires them to feed almost continuously.”

The record size for a bighead carp in the U.S. is a 125-pound monster caught last year in Missouri, Field & Stream reports.

News of the massive stash of eggs found in the Oklahoma carp prompted more than 1,300 reactions and jokes on the state’s Facebook page, including from one person who suggested the unwanted eggs be weaponized to annoy the planet’s rogue nations.

“Glad that monster is gone!” Jason Davis wrote.

“That’s a freaking tank,” Blake Lewis posted.

This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 6:40 AM with the headline "10 pounds of eggs found in large invasive fish caught in Oklahoma lake, state reports."