I watched "River Mosters" last night on t.v. and they were talking about a very interesting fish - the snakehead. For those of you that didn't know, the first college I attended I studied and graduated with a diploma in Aquaculture. Basically, it is the study and raising of fish. While at school we had several projects dealing with fish - we had to breed Siamese Fighting fish (Beta's), fat headed minnows, Guppies, and raise brine shrimp. It was pretty interesting. Being the person that I was - (a little OCD) I eventually collected several fish tanks. My collection included two 25 gallon, two 15 gallon, one 10 gallon and one 2.5 gallon tank. My room was always the warmest and most humid :). My collection of fish included: Zebra Cichlids, red tailed sharks, pleco's, loaches, guppies, tiger oscar, common oscar, albino oscar, and my most favourite of all were my 2 Red Snakeheads.
You have to remember this was back in the early 90's and they were still legal in Ontario. For the past few years, they have been illegal to buy or sell in Ontario. There is a very good reason for this - they are a top level predator. They are a beautiful fish, and very unique. They can breathe air. Often I would see them come to the top of the tank and take a gulp of air. (They can actually live out of water for up to 4 days)...Their body shape allows them to waddle - so if their pond dries up, they go for a little road trip to the next pond. They are extremely aggressive - I was buying 100 feeder gold fish per week for them. They love live fish and will kill almost just for pleasure. My dad once put a 10 inch chub in the tank with them. (they were 12 inches each) and one bit the chub clear in half in one motion. I am not exaggerating. when i use to clean their tank I would do a couple things - first feed them alot - they would get so full they would sink to the bottom of the aquarium (with tails of fish sticking out of their mouths). Then when I put my hand in the tank, I always kept my fingers together. My thinking was - five fingers look like 5 little fish. 5 fingers together look like one big fish. It always worked - I never got bit once.
Very interesting fish, but there is a reason that they are banned now...Some people decided to put them into ponds, and lakes...they are not native to this area - they will literally destroy everything in their path, and they get big. It's not unheard of a snakehead weighing 40 lbs and reach over 4 feet long...they could do a lot of damage. I have also heard that they are very good eating. I've never tried them myself, but I know that they would have a beautiful fillet on each side - white meat, looks good ! Oh, one other thing - unlike most other fish who lay their eggs, have them fertilized an then leave - snakeheads don't do this....the male actually stays with the eggs (15000 at a time) and protect them until they hatch - then the fingerling's (baby fish) are guarded by the male. A female can lay eggs 4 times a year.
You can see pictures of these creatures on the web - if you do a search of "Red Snakehead" you can see what they look like. Amazing creature and it brought back a lot of memories when I saw the special last night.
Have a great day friends !
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