2024-06-14 04:32:36
This unusual creature, the frequent snakehead, is an invasive species of fish that may breathe air and crawl on land. A fisherman caught one in Missouri final month.
Might 25 the fish was caught in a lake in Wayne County. That is the fourth time the frequent snakehead has been noticed within the state, based on the Missouri Division of Conservation (MDC).
Frequent snakehead (Channa argus) has an extended physique and a snake-like head lined in python-patterned scales.
These fish can develop as much as 1 meter in size and are predators, feeding on different fish in addition to crustaceans, frogs, small reptiles and the occasional hapless small hen and mammal.
In contrast to most fish that stay solely in water, the frequent snakehead can breathe air. These fish may also survive on land for days so long as they keep moist, and even handle to crawl like snakes to get again into the water.
This species will not be native to the US – it’s truly native to Asia – and threatens the native species it hunts and competes with for sources.
That is the fourth time the species has been present in Missouri — the primary was present in a ditch in 2019, and two extra had been caught final yr — and it got here as fairly a shock to the fisherman who made the catch, based on IFLScience.
2024-06-14 04:32:36