Snakehead Fish
Scientific name: Channa argus Common Name: Northern Snakehead, Snakehead Native to: Eastern asia
Current area: Found in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, also some remote populations found in the great lakes region
Life cycle: The snakehead spawns n mid-summer. Females can lay as many as 15,000 eggs one to five times per year. Eggs hatch and begin preying on native life very quickly
- The quick reproduction rate means it is very hard to stop the spread of this fish
Feeding: Snakeheads consume mostly fish but will eat anything they can fit into their mouths
Preditors: No natural preditors
- Can survive up to four days on land- special lung-like organ is able to use oxygen from the atmosphere
How was in introduced?
- The fish was brought over from asia to be consumed and kept as pets. People then released the Snakeheads into their local bodies of water and the fish thrived with out any natural predators
Economic impact:
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates snakeheads have already done millions of dollars in damage to the fishing industry as well as major damage to wildlife populations in their environments.
- They can also easily wipe out tons of species of fish and animals in our local ecosystem if we cannot eradicate them from our waters
Individual level - snakeheads are destroying ecosystems around us and can affect the cost of fish and crabs, and water quality around us
What is being done?
- It is illegal to move, possess or release snakeheads in Maryland. It is also illegal to transport snakeheads across state lines without a federal permit. By law, if you catch a Snakehead you are required to kill it.
- The government is the main champion for fighting the spread of snakeheads, but it comes down to choices that people make on a personal level, such as choosing to throw a snakehead back into the water, or misidentifying a snakehead and unknowingly not disposing of it properly