During storms and hurricanes, snakeheads ride the influx of freshwater downriver over the denser saltwater to new areas. One way snakeheads spread new waters is by following freshets over the “salt wedge” where rivers become tidal. Officials encouraged anglers to report, target and kill snakeheads on their own or through formal snakehead roundups. In response, the Northern Snakehead received much attention in the media as part of an attempt to quell its spread, with particular interest in keeping the fish from settling in major coastal river systems, like the Potomac. To their dismay, thousands of juvenile snakeheads were found, indicating that the relatively few adults which had been originally released into the pond had successfully reproduced. Biologists quickly descended upon the Crofton pond and used rotenone, a standard plant-based piscicide to kill all the snakeheads. However, this ability to “walk” is much less extreme than was often portrayed in the media after the early days of the snakehead’s arrival, particularly in the case of the Northern Snakehead.Īll these traits rolled into a single fish suggested that the Northern Snakehead might be the perfect invasive species that, left uncontrolled, would unleash untold havoc on inland fisheries throughout the region. Further, some snakeheads have been known to wiggle their bodies and move overland from one waterbody to another.
#SNAKEHEAD FISH FLORIDA PLUS#
This ability, plus being exceptionally slimy, allows these hearty fishes to survive outside of water for days at a time.
But you’ll find snakeheads there.” - John Odenkirk, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
“You’re not gonna find any other fish, if any self-respecting fish, in 95-degree water in the middle of August that’s a foot deep. This is a rare trait among fishes and allows snakeheads to use stagnant, low oxygen waters that aren’t suitable for other species. They’re also obligate air breathers, meaning they must gulp air to survive. Image Details A snakehead guards its young. Now, nearly two decades after the Crofton encounter, we have a chance to reflect on the impacts of a complicated fish and one of North America’s most infamous non-natives: the snakehead. Learn more about invasive species in pop culture, spawn a wave of paranoia across the country, and even result in the production of three feature-length horror films. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars. In time, this catch would tip off fisheries managers to one of the most notorious invasive species invasive speciesĪn invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. On a summer evening in 2002, while fishing in a small pond behind the local post office, an angler caught a large fish unlike any he’d ever seen. It’s also the epicenter of one of the biggest fish stories of the early twenty-first century. Crofton, Maryland is a non-descript, suburban community equidistantly located between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
0 kommentar(er)
