First confirmed records of Prussian carp, Carassius gibelio (Bloch, 1782) in open waters of North America

Carassius gibelio (Prussian carp) is considered native from central Europe to Siberia and invasive in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. To-date, there have been no published occurrences of C. gibelio in open waters of North America. Although there are reports from the late 1800's that C. gibelio was imported into the USA, some doubt exists regarding the identity of those fish and it is unknown whether any were released into the wild. Here we report the first confirmed records of C. gibelio in the wild in North America and estimate its current distribution by compiling records from private and public sources. Morphology and DNA sequences were used to verify identification. Initial specimens of C. gibelio were found in a shallow lake in 2006 in Alberta, Canada. Routine provincial government and private fish surveys from 2008-2014 further identified C. gibelio throughout natural streams and manmade drainage ditches. These surveys document that C. gibelio is now widely distributed throughout southern Alberta. Further spread is likely due to connectivity of the waterways and the life-history attributes of this fish.