Species Fact Profile: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus)

Northern Snakehead

Channa argus (Cantor, 1842)

Range: Northeastern Asia (China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea)

Habitat: Stagnant Freshwater Bodies with Mud or Vegetated Bottoms

Diet: Fish, Crustaceans, Amphibians

Social Grouping: Loosely Social

Reproduction:  Sexually mature at 2-3 years old (a length of about 30 centimeters).   Spawn in spring and summer. Females can lay up to 100,000 eggs per year, fertilized externally.  Eggs can hatch as soon as 1-2 days after being fertilized.  Eggs and newly hatched fry are guarded by both parents

Lifespan: 10-15 Years

      Conservation Status: Not Evaluated

•       Usually grows up to 100 centimeters, but specimens 150 centimeters long and weighing over 8 kilograms have been captured.  Long body with long, thin, rayed dorsal fin, small compressed head with a large mouth with large teeth
•       Coloration is golden tan with dark blotches, more distinct towards the front of the body, running together towards the rear.
•       Capable of obtaining oxygen directly from the air (thanks to a specialized chamber next to the gills), which allows this fish to live outside of water for days at a time and move short distances overland to transport itself from one body of water to another (this ability is only demonstrated in juveniles)
•       Capable of entering a state of torpor, allowing them to survive under ice during cold winters, burying themselves into mud at the bottom of ponds
•       Two subspecies recognized - the nominate in China and the Koreas and the Amur snakehead (C. a. warpachowskii) in eastern Russia
•       Used as a food fish in eastern Asia, which (along with fishes kept as pets) is responsible for the spread of this species around the world.  It has become invasive in parts of Europe and the United States
•       Possession of snakeheads is strictly regulated by the federal government to prevent additional populations from becoming established, efforts are underway to exterminated identified populations outside of their native range
•       In Chinese folklore, the snakehead is a symbol of parental virtue, based on the protection that adults provide their eggs and young