In their native regions, snakeheads are a valued food fish. Before 2002, snakeheads were imported as a food fish and for aquarium hobbyists. This can have economic consequences for our state, affecting tourism and fishing.Īs with most other invasive species, humans are responsible for moving snakeheads from their native regions, where they have a place in balanced ecosystems, to places where their numbers can grow virtually unchecked. Potentially, northern snakeheads could compete with commercially and recreationally important fish species through predation and competition for food and habitat in ponds, streams, canals, reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. The diet of snakeheads significantly overlaps that of the largemouth bass, which is a native game fish in Missouri. In the past, snakeheads have sometimes been placed in these genera: Bostrychoides, Ophicephalus, Ophiocephalus, and Paraophiocephalus. They have been spreading north through the waters of the St. Flooding allowed these fish to move into the local White River, and from there, the fish made their way into the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. In 2008, northern snakeheads were found in Arkansas drainage ditches, after an accident at a commercial fish farm. If snakeheads invade the Great Lakes, they could cause great damage to that ecosystem. It also has been found in ponds, reservoirs, and other water bodies in several other states. The northern snakehead has become invasively established in the Potomac River and threatens the Chesapeake Bay watershed. states ban the possession of live snakeheads. Since October 2002, live snakeheads have been banned (under the federal Lacey Act) from import and interstate transport without a special permit from the U.S. Francis River levees in Dunklin County in 2019. The first northern snakehead recorded in Missouri was caught in a borrow ditch within the St. The second verified catch of an invasive northern snakehead in Missouri was on it was captured by an angler who was seining for bait at Duck Creek Conservation Area in Wayne County the snakehead was 13 inches long and estimated to be about 1 year old. Report any sightings of this invasive fish to MDC's Southeast Regional Office at 57. Photograph the fish, so the species can be positively identified. Kill the fish by severing the head, freezing the fish, or putting it on ice for an extended period of time. Remember, this fish is an air breather and can live a considerable amount of time out of the water. Do not release the fish or toss it up on the bank, because it could migrate back to the water or to a new water body. Snakeheads are on Missouri's Prohibited Species List, and live fish and viable eggs may not be imported, exported, transported, sold, purchased, or possessed in Missouri. Bowfins have the pelvic fins located farther back, near the belly. Snakeheads have the pelvic fins (the paired fins on the bottom of the body) located forward on the body, close to the pectoral fins (the fins just behind the gill covers).(Think of “bow fin” as singular: only the dorsal fin is elongated, not both dorsal and anal.) The native bowfins have a short anal fin of some 9–10 soft rays. Snakeheads have a long and extended anal fin, which is the bottom fin closest to the tail (the northern snakehead species has some 30–32 rays).ocillicauda, which lives in Missouri), and they have peglike (not pointy) jaw teeth. But they tend to be more olive-colored and have a black spot at the base of the tail (especially A. They are found in many of the same habitats, too. Similar species: North America's native bowfins ( Amia ocillicauda and Amia calva) are also cylindrical, can grow large, and have a large mouth and long dorsal fin. Pelvic fins are located close to pectoral fins and gills.Both the dorsal and anal fins are elongated.The pelvic fins are located forward on the body, near the pectoral fins. Both dorsal and anal fins are extended and long. The top of the head is typically indented (concave). The jaws contain many small teeth, similar to those of pike and pickerel. The markings may vary, but they are generally tan with dark brown mottling. argus) is the species most likely to be found in Missouri. Globally, there are about 30 species all have a large mouth and sharp teeth, large scales atop the head, and eyes located far forward on the head - making their heads resemble those of snakes. Snakeheads belong to a pair of closely related genera of long, cylindrical fish from Asia and Africa: genus Channa and genus Parachanna.
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