Channa argus

Harrison Phung

The Northern Snakehead

Scientific Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia

• Phylum: Chordata

• Class: Actinopterygii

• Order: Perciformes

• Family: Channidae

• Genus: Channa

• Species: argus

Northern Snakehead

• Common nicknames are Fishzilla and Frankenfish.

• Native to China, Russia, and Korea.• Highly invasive species. • Top-level predator.• Feeds on plankton, aquatic insects, and

mollusks. Once matured, they feed on other fish and amphibians.

Fishzilla

• Reaches sexual maturity in 2-3 years.

• Females can lay 15,000 eggs at once and can mate as often as 5 times a year.

• Able to on travel across land and live out of the water for three days.

• They have a primitive lung above their gills.

Invasive Species

• Considered to be extremely invasive.

• Extreme methods of wiping out the species from areas have been documented.

• Chemicals introduced into ponds to kill all fish to stop the spreading of the snakehead.

Videos

• Snakeheads are thrust predators. It will eat its prey all at once, striking and ingesting it whole.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmU7etSYYqI• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keRNS-PuaDU

Conclusion

• Considered to be a Top 10 Invasive Species (Time Magazine)

• First documented report in the US was in Maryland 2002.

• Listed as injurious wildlife under the Federal Lacey Act.