This week we responded to reports of carp remains left on the bank of Brumby’s. The report came from visiting Victorian anglers.  They were familiar with the appearance of this species. All carp sightings reported are taken seriously and fully investigated.

The fish remains were successfully located and identified as that of a large tench, Tinca tinca. Tench are closely related to carp, part of the same family of fish known as Cyprinids. Other family members such as gold fish and redfin perch are also often mistaken for carp. Of the past 12 sightings of ‘carp’ around the state, five were goldfish and seven tench.

Gold fish can look a lot like carp. When they return to the wild and lose their bright colour. Tench share the same head shape as carp. The big difference is tench have very small scales compared to the large scales of carp.

We really appreciate reports of pest species. Don’t ever hesitate to report something, especially if you’re not sure.  We will continue to investigate any reports from anywhere around the State.