# Snakeheads



## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

do we have them here in NWFL 
/Gulf Coast?


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## SHunter (Jun 19, 2009)

Interesting to find out if anyone has seen one in freshwater here. I have not, but I had a male student wait for me to lock my door and walk to lunch and/or to the bus ramp. Every day he kept bringing up snakeheads. He was a good kid and I guess had this fish on the brain. I had never heard of them before so I looked it up and found that they were indeed a problem in South Florida. From looking at them I'm not sure they could walk this far on land.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Not up here. There is only one species of snakehead reproducing in Florida, Channa marulius. It is a tropical species and limited to the extreme southern portion of the state. There are dozens and dozens of different species of snakehead ranging in adult size from 5" and less than half a pound up to 40"+ and over 40lbs. Most are tropical species though a few are sub-tropical and two, Channa argus and C. striata, are temperate species. C. argus is the species that is breeding in the Potomac.

Their bad reputation is blown WAY out of proportion. They can NOT walk on land. Sure they can wiggle a bit better than most fish but I wouldnt call it walking. They too will quickly dry out and die. They are no more aggressive than an equal sized bass either. They just "look" scary. 

ChrisV and I got on em down in Miami a few years back and they are super fun to target. We cooked one up with a snook we caught and guess what. That snakehead was EVERY bit as good as that snook!


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

they have them in Maryland, strange they arent here...


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## jjsmith8301 (May 30, 2018)

There are some around. My brother caught a Giant Snakehead probably 6 or 7 years ago around Milton, it was 3ft long. He saved it in the freezer and had FWC come by to confirm what it was. I did see a picture of the fish with him holding it.


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## captken (Feb 24, 2008)

*Somebody dumped several Myan Cichlids on the street near here.*

I sure would like to know where they came from. I don't think they can survive this far north. They are a heck of a lot of fun to catch and great eating. They average a little bigger than Bluegills. I've caught lots of them in south Florida.
Snakeheads in Florida are linited to a very few places in S. Florida but Peacock Bass and Mayan Cichlids are everywhere down there. 

The Pliecostomus is well established here in the Withlacoochee River.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Realtor said:


> they have them in Maryland, strange they arent here...


The species in Maryland would easily survive here, however unless moved by man, they couldnt get here. They are limited to just the potomac and its tributaries. 

Both Channa argus and C. marulius were commonly sold in Asian grocery stores and that is how they became established. Neither were commonly sold as pets. Heck, C. argus was raised in many fish farms in the US, specifically in arkansas. If they are so bad why are they not everywhere?

Its unfortunate the entire genus is banned in the US as many look great in an aquarium!

Here is a sampling of some of the smaller species that use to be popular in the aquarium trade.


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## Breeze (Mar 23, 2012)

JD7.62 said:


> The species in Maryland would easily survive here, however unless moved by man, they couldnt get here. They are limited to just the potomac and its tributaries.
> 
> Both Channa argus and C. marulius were commonly sold in Asian grocery stores and that is how they became established. Neither were commonly sold as pets. Heck, C. argus was raised in many fish farms in the US, specifically in arkansas. If they are so bad why are they not everywhere?
> 
> ...


I lived in Maryland when they first started finding them. DNR and other "experts" all said at the time that they got there from aquariums that people dumped the fish out of. There were pictures on the news showing them "walking" on land, although it also said they could not go very far on land. Some theories were that they were aquarium fish that were put in a pond that was very close to the Potomac or one of its tributaries and they crossed the land between the two to get into the river. Course that was years ago and just going by my old memory. . 

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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Breeze said:


> I lived in Maryland when they first started finding them. DNR and other "experts" all said at the time that they got there from aquariums that people dumped the fish out of. There were pictures on the news showing them "walking" on land, although it also said they could not go very far on land. Some theories were that they were aquarium fish that were put in a pond that was very close to the Potomac or one of its tributaries and they crossed the land between the two to get into the river. Course that was years ago and just going by my old memory. .
> 
> Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk



Channa argus is a food fish. A commonly raised food fish, and as I said earlier, even raised in the US before the ban. Live fish are sold in large Asian grocers and snakeheads were common in them. The two commonly raised and sold species were C. argus and C marulius which are also the two breeding in US waters. To blame aquarists is simply wrong. 

Look at the pics I posted of the snakehead species desired in aquaria and how small they are. Compare that to C. argus below, which looks like an aquarium fish?


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## sealark (Sep 27, 2007)

Just like lionfish they are here to stay. Another good foodfish.


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## Breeze (Mar 23, 2012)

JD7.62 said:


> Channa argus is a food fish. A commonly raised food fish, and as I said earlier, even raised in the US before the ban. Live fish are sold in large Asian grocers and snakeheads were common in them. The two commonly raised and sold species were C. argus and C marulius which are also the two breeding in US waters. To blame aquarists is simply wrong.
> 
> Look at the pics I posted of the snakehead species desired in aquaria and how small they are. Compare that to C. argus below, which looks like an aquarium fish?


I am not trying to argue with you. Your probably right. I was born and raised on the Chesapeake and just saying what we were told when they first started becoming a "problem". Makes more sense to me that they were probably dumped into a pond as farm fish instead of aquarium fish... 

Either that or some aquarium store got a deal on C. argus hatchlings and sold them to unsuspecting customers who dumped them when they started getting bigger.... 

Who really knows? They are there, that's all we know for sure.

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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

I see em on instagram and some of them are beautifully colored...


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