Invasive Snakehead That Can Breathe on Land Caught in Missouri

It's happened again. The Missouri Department of Conservation has confirmed yet another invasive snakehead has been caught and this unwelcome invader can survive on the land, too.

This is an evil predatory fish that is not native to Missouri, but the Department of Conservation has confirmed that another has been caught at Wappapello Lake Spillway in Wayne County, Missouri on May 25.

The northern snakehead fish (Channa argus) is a fish, but looks like a snake and behaves like one also. It's native to China, Russia and North and South Korea. It doesn't belong in the United States, but it's certainly making a home here now and that's a big problem. It feeds on native Missouri fish and can reproduce quickly. 

It can also crawl on land and exist there for some time before needing to return to the water.

The Missouri Department of Conservation says if you catch an invasive snakehead, kill it by cutting its head off and separating it from the body, gut it and put it in a plastic bag then contact the department and alert them where you found it. DO NOT throw it back in the water. This fish is a danger to all of the fish that are native to Missouri and it will hunt them and compete for the resources they depend on, too.

The fact that a fourth snakehead in Missouri is bad news for the ecosystem in the state. Now that they're here, it will be difficult to capture and kill them all.