Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) were present in Missouri waters as early as 1971, and by 1976 were widely distributed in the Missouri, Mississippi, and St. Francis rivers. The few reports of grass carp in other Missouri streams were of specimens taken within a few kilometers of the Missouri River. The commercial harvest of grass carp has increased each year since 1971, and during the first 6 months of 1976 this species comprised 0.8% of the 308,200 kg of commercial fish reported.