Snake-Headed Snakehead Fish, a Strange and Unsettling Invasive Species

AMERICA – The snake-headed snakehead fish, or northern snakehead (Channa argus), is not an ordinary animal. With its snake-like appearance and ability to breathe on land, this fish has become a disturbing invasive species in the United States.

Last month, the strange creature was caught in Missouri by a fisherman. Caught on May 25, below the Wappapello Lake Spillway in Wayne County, it was the fourth snakehead snakehead recorded in the state, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC).

The snakehead snakehead fish (Channa argus) has a long body and a snake-like head covered in python-patterned scales.

They can grow up to 1 meter (3 feet) in length and are fearsome predators. Because, this fish eats other fish, as well as crustaceans, frogs, small reptiles, and sometimes small birds and other mammals.

Unlike most fish, which live entirely in water, snakehead snakeheads can breathe air, which is useful in water lacking oxygen.

They can also survive on land for several days as long as it remains moist, and can even crawl like snakes back into the water.

Invasive Species

Uniquely, this species is not native to the US. Actually, it actually comes from Asia. And it is a threat to native species, which are preyed upon and fought over for resources.

This latest discovery is the fourth time the fish has been seen in the state of Missouri. The first was found in a ditch in 2019 and two more were caught last year.

“The angler realized they were getting something different and researched the characteristics of the fish, and realized it was indeed a snakehead snakehead,” said MDC Fisheries Biologist Dave Knuth. “The angler left it on the boardwalk for several hours thinking it would die, and it didn’t.”

The fish was then bagged and transported to the local US Army Corps of Engineers office, where MDC agent Jacob Plunkett retrieved it after nearly four hours in the bag.

“When I took the fish, it was still alive,” Plunkett said.

The MDC recommends killing it “by cutting off the head, removing the guts, or placing it in a sealed plastic bag.”

Officials believe that these invasive fish may have first entered U.S. rivers after an accident at a commercial fish farm in Arkansas in 2008, and that they have since been swimming (and creeping) north through the waters of the St. Francis River watershed.

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