My dad gave me homework. He asked me to tell him all about snakeheads (Family Channidae) when I came down on Friday for a visit. So I did what any good daughter would do and I did a search on the greater snakehead fish (Channa micropeltes) and the northern snakehead fish (Channa argus). Turns out they are kinda cool, speaking from an ecological perspective.
They are part of a family of freshwater fish native to Asia, from China to India and down into the islands of Indonesia. There are also species native to Africa, but I don’t think those are the ones my dad heard about, as the hubbub here in the US is that they are invasive species.
Anatomically, the fish are unremarkable, with a long dorsal fin running most of the length of it’s back, and fan-shaped tail fins. Their heads are kind of flattened, I suppose like a snake head, and the mottled blotchy brown coloration reminds me of patterns on snakes bodies, like pythons or boa constrictors.
They grow quickly and can get quite large, as evidenced by this video courtesy of National Geographic.
Snakeheads were brought to America for food and as aquarium fish. However, as people are wont to do they release them in nearby ponds, rivers or streams when they get too large or they no longer need them, and the snakeheads settle and begin making more snakeheads.
They caused a stir in 2002 in Maryland, where an angler caught one in a pond. He took it to a local wildlife and fisheries office for identification. The authorities visited the pond and subsequently caught some hatchlings, indicating the population was well-established. This wouldn’t be such a problem, but the snakeheads are sneaky.
They are one of the few species of fish that need to breathe air. Yes, I said breathe, meaning they don’t use just their gills; they also have what is called a “suprabranchial organ”, which is a kind of a branch of their vascular system allowing them to oxygenate their blood via inhalation of atmospheric oxygen.
While snakeheads don’t actually walk, they do have a decidedly un-fishlike ability to scoot or flop themselves from one body of water to another. Thus, the concern of wildlife and fisheries agents.
There is plenty more I could say about invasive species but I think I should wait, or this will become a longwinded entry.
So, there you have it Dad, everything you wanted to know about snakeheads.
