The natorious snakehead fish

Most but not all people know about the snakehead fish. It would be an awsome pet if we could keep it. I was doing some research and found this praticular fish is quite intresting due to its unique abilitys.

This fish is illegal. because it can wipe out an entire lake population. These fish grow up to 4 feet long and exceed 15 pounds in weight. They can eat fish even equal their size!

For wut i know it is illegal in ontario and most of the U.S.

It was brought from asia and other areas to america as food and pet trade. When introduced as a pet, most people found it got to big and released it into local rivers and lakes. And thats where the problem began.

Snakeheads began breeding and spreading to other areas using their ability to survive out of water for up to 3 days!!! Usualy they will stay in the enviroment they are set in untill food becomes limited (which usually does cuz of their eating habits) or when they find the water conditions unsuitable they will crawl out of the water and go looking for a new water area. The are very adaptable to new enviroments since they can survive in wide range of water conditions and warm and cold water.

In some cases the fish have attacked and killed humans when the people got to close to their young or when they were starved. To even think, if you kept one in your aquarium, if it managed to get out it would eat any small animals around your house such as cats and even small dogs . If you are caught owning a snakehead you can be fined up to $5000.

Well i thought this would be just an intresting topic to talk about. There are so many sites on this, just type "snakehead" in google and dozens of sites will pop up. Its a cool fish but it is slightly exagerated, wut i posted is true, but most peopel think that you have to have a secure lid, that it will break through plastic and kill you any chance they get which is not true.
(Snakeheads rarely attack humans unless they are desperate for food or defending territory/young, and in some rare cases there are snakeheads that just do it for no reason)

 

i have never had a snakehead before, but i have always liked the they they look and act, and if i had the opportunity and tankspace, i would def. get one.

 

Think of the tank you would need to keep such a big fish

 

yea, but there are some that stay alot smaller than that.

 

You know, there was a very fun SciFi movie called "Snakehead" and then "Snakehead: Return to Death Lake" it was about a 50 ft. Snakehead. Yay for SciFi.

 

Is it sad that I've actually seen one of those movies (can't remember which one)?

-Chelle

 

Id get a dwarf snake head in a second if i had the space, they are such nice cool looking fish

 

It's a rea; major problem with hobbyists, I think, that we get so excited about the animals that we forget they're a part of a delicate ecosystem and when put into another system can easily die or, conversely, easily wipe out entire other species...

Not to wax brainy here but I think it stems from our ignorance of the evolutionary process, especially in America where our scientific knowledge is generally so advanced. The common person here knows so little about the way ecosystems function, it's no wonder we really don't give a hoot about the sad state of oceans, rainforests, etc.

But I think that's changing a little (is it too late??) as I've seen some real good volunteer and educational programs dedicated to teaching people the way specific ecosystems interact...