Snakehead Fish
Wanted Dead or Alive... preferably away from me
Northern snakehead fish.
Is it a Fish? Or is a monster? Is it a FISHMONSTER!
You are swimming with your friends, when suddenly you feel something. It's long, and it's fast. Curiosity won the best of you, you ducked down into the water to see what touch your leg. You see this really long and thick snake? But whatever it is you swim away with your friends. Later on you hear that a snakehead fish has been caught in the same river you were swimming at!
A snakehead fish can live out of the water for about 4 days!
There are many different types of snakehead fish this is one of them.. and apparently one of the ugliest too.
This is a baby snakehead fish. Isn't it cute!.. Just wait until it hits puberty!
All about the SnakeHead Fish
This fish scientific name is Channidae. This specie is an animal. It is also an aquatic pest. It can grow to become very large, the largest it can grow is 35 in. The snakehead fish has a large mouth, large dorsal fins, and shiny teeth. They are a gray/brownish color. They originated from Africa and Asia. They have done ecological damage. They can disrupt the natural ecological system. Also they are very aggressive, and they are air-breathers and can migrate into another body of water. They spread by either crawlings somewhere else, or by being released by their owners; since some are pets. It got to the U.S. waters via releases by aquarium owners and some via the live food fish trade by individuals releasing these fish to establish a local food source. A way to control the snakehead fish done by researchers are: electrofishing surveys to determine distribution and feeding habits, telemetry tagging to assess daily and seasonal behavior, and angler surveys to determine effects of the growing snakehead population on recreational fishing. But YOU can also help! If you catch a snakehead fish DO NOT release it, instead make a delicious fish soup! Or any other fish recipe you know!
The map above shows where different types of snakehead fish are at.