Jawbreaker

A teenager in Arkansas is nursing a broken jaw after he was struck by a silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) while riding around a local lake in an inner tube (the inner tube was being towed by a speedboat). While this might strike some of you as odd (and painful), those of you who are familiar with the tendency of the Asian carp to jump out of the water when startled are likely not surprised. The Arkansas News Bureau has the full story.

What Arkansas

Greetings, northern snakehead: Welcome to the wilds of Arkansas!

The AP is reporting that the northern snakehead (Channa argus) has been discovered for the first time in Arkansas, but if you want the story behind the story, head over to the AgTalk forums, where someone has posted a series of photos, including a whole cooler full of fish pulled from a drainage ditch. Plus, here's a link to an earlier post by the same person, who looks to be the one who made the initial discovery.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to the AgTalk forums.

Stoner Crock

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that a man has been charged with illegally importing grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) into Texas from Arkansas. Texas allows sterile grass carp, but only with a permit.

The oddest part of this story may be the reasoning behind it: it seems that William Stoner, the man charged with the crime, was using the carp to clear up ponds at the golf course where he makes a living diving for golf balls. Fish and game officials in both Texas and Arkansas broke the case late last year, and since then the grass carp have been disposed of with chemical treatments and replaced with less voracious (and legal) koi.