Light trap and larval trawl collection of bigheaded carp in the Missouri River Basin, 2016

In the Lamine, Moreau, and Little Chariton rivers, light traps were used to capture larval bigheaded carps moving into tributaries. Traps were set on a weekly basis in each river, at roughly 1-kilometer intervals up to 7 km upstream. Ichthyoplankton tows were done in locations near the confluence of each tributary with the Missouri River, and within the Missouri River itself. Data includes identification of larval fish, size, and developmental information of subsampled invasive carp species. Flow readings were taken at up to five points across the channel with a Marsh-McBirney flow meter, and water quality was measured at the surface with a YSI ProPlus before retrieval of light traps.