Now we know what to look for and what to do when we find it.An invasive fish species that can breathe air and survive on land has been found in Georgia for the first time. Thanks to Lance Mroz for posting his catch in the Duck Hollow Facebook group. The PA Fish and Boat Commission confirmed today, 30 September, that it’s indeed a northern snakehead. In Pennsylvania that’s the PA Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) at 61 or via email. This video from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources has drawings that show how to kill this fish. Use this USFW Factsheet to Identify the Northern Snakehead. Identify it: It resembles two native fish, but not closely.He identified the fish, killed it, froze it and reported it to the PA Fish and Boat Commission. When deemed appropriate, wildlife officials may poison newly infested ponds and kill all fish.įortunately Lance Mroz knew what to do. If the fish become established they spread throughout the watershed. New isolated discoveries always begin with someone releasing a fish. Since then northern snakeheads have been found in Virginia, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Arkansas, and B.C, Canada. A man later admitted to releasing an adult pair in the original pond, but the fish was out of the bag. Officials were so worried about this species that they drained the pond and poisoned three adjacent ponds to kill every fish. A breeding population was found in a pond in Crofton, Maryland in 2002. The first encounter with northern snakeheads in the U.S. They’ve been kept in aquariums or raised on fish farms in the past, but it’s illegal to keep a live one now in North America. How did they get here? People release them. … and they can get really big! According to Wikipedia, a record 19.9 pound northern snakehead was caught - actually shot at night with a bow and arrow - at Mattawoman Creek in Charles County, Maryland in May 2018. Northern Snakeheads are typically distinguished by a flattened, pointy head with long lower jaws. If you find one, watch out! They look like this.Īll Snakeheads are distinguished by their torpedo shaped body, long dorsal and anal fins without spines, and toothed jaws. This top-level predator eats crustaceans, amphibians and other fish and can double its population in only 15 months. In fact they can live out of water for days where it’s moist and cool and are known to wriggle overland from pond to pond, earning them the nickname “walking fish.” They prefer shallow stagnant freshwater and can survive in low oxygen locations because they can breathe the air. Northern snakeheads ( Channa argus) are predatory fish native to China, Russia and the Koreas. Anglers had been warned for years to watch out for this invasive alien species but it had never been seen in western Pennsylvania waters - not until Lance caught it in the Monongahela River at Duck Hollow on 26 September 2019. Lance Mroz knew this fish was trouble as soon as he pulled it from the river. Northern snakehead caught by Lance Mroz, Jr in Monongahela River, (photo courtesy of Lance E.
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