![]() ![]() Crofton Pond in Maryland was the first documented location in the region. Locations of northern snakehead collections and observations in the Mid-Atlantic. How to distinguish between the northern snakehead and similar fish: In areas where the snakehead is found, there have been some efforts to start a commercial fishery for the species around DC and Maryland, but why buy what you can catch yourself? Some hunters use a bow and arrow, but bass fishing outfits will work just as well for snakeheads. Border surveillance is essential-the Lacey Act profits bringing live snakeheads into the US. All of the fish analyzed from this system had the same DNA sequence, indicating that the entire population may be the offspring of a single female.Įssential to stopping the spread of the snakehead will be effective law enforcement to stop supply routes, sources, and markets to prevent new introductions. ![]() A population of the fish is now so well established in the Potomac Basin that the first Snakehead Tournament was held in 2011. But despite federal legislation banning the import and transport of all snakeheads, they continue to be found in waterways around the country, the result of illegal introductions by humans. The kill revealed over a thousand snakeheads, many recently hatched.Ĭhanna argus range in the U.S. The drastic solution chosen was the piscicide rotenone. A fish that can live out of water for days, cross mud to find new territory, and eat not just fish but frogs, birds, and small mammals. For this is an invader with a vengeance: a top-tier predator with a voracious appetite. All it would take was one heavy rain to wash some of these fish into a nearby river and from there into Chesapeake Bay. They weren’t concerned until a second one was caught in the same spot, and some babies netted. ![]() He showed the picture to the state Department of Natural Resources in Annapolis. Two years after they were released there, a fisherman caught a fish he couldn’t identify in that pond and let it go, but not before he took its photo. An ideal new home? The snakeheads, which turned out to be a mating pair, seem to have found it so. What to do?īehind a local shopping center was a tree-lined, four-acre pond. Soon they were devouring a dozen goldfish a day. He put the fish––also sold as pets––in an aquarium, and started feeding them goldfish. But by the time they arrived, she was well again. He called an Asian fish market in New York and ordered a couple of northern snakeheads, live. His sister was ailing, and the man in Maryland remembered that, back home in Hong Kong, there was a fish that was considered a delicacy and a restorative. They are likely to compete with native fish species through predation and competition for food and habitat in ponds, streams, canals, reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. In the Potomac, ninety-seven percent of their diet is made up of fish. The coloration of juveniles is similar to adults. Adults are golden tan to pale brown or olive in color, snakeheads are easily identified by dark irregular blotches along the sides, and saddlelike blotches along the back. Survives in water temperatures from 32✯ to 86✯, including waters covered in ice.ĭescription Cylindrical fish, with a snakelike head and large mouth with sharp teeth. Habitat Slow-moving streams, swamps, vegetated ponds, and wetlands. The snakehead has become established in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Arkansas. Since then, it has been reported in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina (where it has been caught by anglers). Invasive range According to the US Geological Survey, the first report of Channa argus in the United States came from Silverwood Lake, California, in 1997. ![]()
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