Snakehead

Great Snakehead

Bullseye snakehead

The Snakehead fish is an aquarium and food fish native to South East Asia and Africa. These predatory fishes are distinguished by a long dorsal fin, small head with large head scales on top, large mouth and teeth. These fish can also breathe air, move over ground, and survive out of water for days. Outside of their native homes, these fish can destroy other ecosystems. They became a national news topic in the US with the appearance of Northern Snakeheads spawning in a Crofton, Maryland pond in 2002.

The young Snakeheads are Reddish brown with stripes. Adults are dark on their backs and light on their bellies, with variations in color based on water acidity. Their name comes from their long thin snake like bodies and heads.

After hatching, they grow quickly, feeding on insects, plankton and small water critters. As they start to grow they tend to hide undercover and eat anything that passes by including fish, frogs, snakes, crustaceans, and in some cases even birds and rodents. They ambush their food, and usually will not chase after it. The snakehead is a thrust predator. It will eat its prey all at once, striking and ingesting it whole. They may come to light to feed on prey that is attracted to the light.

 As a result of having no natural enemies, they grow fast and become common in any body of water they may inhabit. Snakehead fish are prolific and produce a great deal of young with good survival rates. Females lay eggs in a nest built in vegetation in shallow water. A single female may lay between 100 to 1000 eggs each time she spawns. The Northern Snakehead can spawn more up to five times a year and release up to 75,000 eggs a year.  

The Great Snakehead is the largest of the species and can grow to 66 pounds. The word record for a catch on a rod and reel is 9 pounds 13 ounces caught by Jean Francois Helias in Thailand in 2006. Because they eat game fish and have no predators, they can overcrowd a body of water and harm native species. They are adapted to survive in water with little oxygen and even crawl across land for short distances by rhythmically moving their fins and muscular bodies back and forth.  When walking on land they take in oxygen from a special bronchial adaptation.

If you happen to catch a snakehead DO NOT RELEASE IT. Immediately call the nearest DNR (Department of Natural Resources) Operations Center.

When identifying Snakeheads, be careful not to confuse them with other similar looking species. Below are two similar looking species.

Mudpuppies are large permanently aquatic salamanders with flattened tails and reddish gills behind their heads. Their body color is brown or gray-brown with darker scattered blotches.

 Bowfin is very similar in appearance. The best recognizable characteristic of the Bowfin is the black spot at the base of its tail. They are generally tan and olive in appearance and its maximum length can reach 32 inches.  They have short anal fins and their pelvic fins are set back from their gills and pectoral fins. Bowfin habitat is in open marshes and along rivers and lakes

Burbot is a Michigan native that reaches about 15 inches in length. They are yellow, light brown, or tan, and become darker northward. Their background color is overlaid by a lacelike pattern of dark brown or black. Burbot can be distinguished from Snakeheads by the barbell on their lower jaw and a split dorsal fin.