This invasive fish can live on land for days. SC says kill it if you see it

There are invasive species and then there’s the northern snakehead, a fish so loathed, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says in bold capital letters: DO NOT RELEASE.

Exclamation point implied.

They go on to say kill it immediately.

DNR scientists have been looking for snakeheads — also known as Frankenfish — since some were found in small numbers in a private pond in Georgia and North Carolina in 2019. The beast has gotten a foothold in Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Arkansas.

The reason for all the attention is that snakeheads are top-level predator fish. Biologists call them hypercarnivorous — they actively prey on other fish or aquatic animals.

Sharks are like that as are barracuda, pike/muskellunge, walleye, perch and salmon.

Here’s the difference: snakeheads pose a substantial threat to native fish.

Native to Asia, where people eat them, snakeheads are long and thin fish — they can grow to 3 feet — and look similar to the bowfin, a native fish.

DNR describes them as having “a long dorsal fin that runs along their whole back, and have a dark brown blotchy appearance.”

Scary, but they breathe air. They can in fact live for days on land. They can flop their bodies across mud. Low oxygenated water is not a problem for them. Lakes, streams, canals, even drainage ditches are where they live. One was found in June in a drainage pool in Missouri.

Never in saltwater.

Arkansas fisheries experts said their problem with snakeheads began 20 years ago when a farmer was breeding them to eat. After the U.S. banned them in 2002, the farmer drained his pond in an attempt to kill them. Bad idea. They just flopped over to a nearby river.

DNR thinks the species came to the U.S. through Asian fish markets.

If you think you’ve hooked one, DNR asks that you take a photo, put the fish on ice, note your location and call them at 1-800-922-5431.

This story was originally published July 20, 2023 at 6:30 AM with the headline "This invasive fish can live on land for days. SC says kill it if you see it."