Post by neri on Jun 28, 2022 22:08:29 GMT
COMMON NAME: Northern Snakehead
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Channa argus
TYPE: Fish
DIET: Carnivore
GROUP NAME: School
SIZE: Up to 3 feet (length)
WEIGHT: Up to 19 pounds
The northern snakehead (Channa argus) has a most unusual ability: It can breathe outside of the water, as well as within. Juveniles can also wriggle their long, narrow bodies onto land, enabling them to travel from one pond or stream to another if needed.
This aggressive fish is native to China, southern Siberia and North Korea, where it is fished and occasionally raised for food. But it's also been introduced around the world, including most recently, the United States, where the invasive species has caused environmental problems.
The fast-growing creatures are carnivorous, eating zooplankton when they are young, but quickly progressing to insects, small amphibians and other fish.
These fish, whose elongated bodies earned them their name, can grow up to three feet long in introduced areas and even larger in their native range. They have sharp, dagger-like teeth and canine teeth on their lower jaw. Their long dorsal fin, which runs much of the length of their body and a powerful anal fin make them speedy swimmers. The scales are golden tan to pale brown and they have distinctive splotches along their flank.
The juveniles are adept at moving short distances on land, however, when they get older and their bodies become more rounded, it becomes more difficult. During times of drought, snakeheads generally burrow into the mud; however during rainstorms, they can more easily migrate.
Channa argus has a special chamber adjacent to its gills called a suprabranchial organ. This allows the animal to absorb oxygen directly from air by gulping it in through its mouth. This adaptation enables snakeheads to thrive in low-oxygen, stagnant bodies of water in a variety of settings, from swamps to muddy rivers to canals to ponds. It can survive outside of water for up to four days.
However, snakeheads can also use their gills to respire underwater, which they often do in the winter months. In summer and in warmer conditions — which necessitates more oxygen — the fish solely breathes air though its suprabranchial organ.
The northern snakehead is not alone in this ability: Walking catfishes, lungfishes and betta fish can all breathe air directly as well.
These fish reach sexual maturity between one and three years - depending on growing conditions - and breed from April to August. They can spawn up to five times, each time laying more than a thousand orange-yellow eggs, which are buoyant. Sometimes, they can lay many more, however, approaching 50,000 eggs per year. Snakeheads often make floating nests made of bits of vegetation to protect their eggs.
Parents defend their young for several weeks and have even been known to attack people who get too close, like a Delaware boy, whose hand was bit when he reached into a pond to investigate the shimmering color of a juvenile snakehead.
The northern snakehead has been introduced into Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Eastern Europe, Japan and the United States. Because they are voracious predators that quickly grow and reproduce, they have the potential to outcompete native species, making them a significant ecological threat.
www.nationalgeographic.com/
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Channa argus
TYPE: Fish
DIET: Carnivore
GROUP NAME: School
SIZE: Up to 3 feet (length)
WEIGHT: Up to 19 pounds
The northern snakehead (Channa argus) has a most unusual ability: It can breathe outside of the water, as well as within. Juveniles can also wriggle their long, narrow bodies onto land, enabling them to travel from one pond or stream to another if needed.
This aggressive fish is native to China, southern Siberia and North Korea, where it is fished and occasionally raised for food. But it's also been introduced around the world, including most recently, the United States, where the invasive species has caused environmental problems.
The fast-growing creatures are carnivorous, eating zooplankton when they are young, but quickly progressing to insects, small amphibians and other fish.
These fish, whose elongated bodies earned them their name, can grow up to three feet long in introduced areas and even larger in their native range. They have sharp, dagger-like teeth and canine teeth on their lower jaw. Their long dorsal fin, which runs much of the length of their body and a powerful anal fin make them speedy swimmers. The scales are golden tan to pale brown and they have distinctive splotches along their flank.
The juveniles are adept at moving short distances on land, however, when they get older and their bodies become more rounded, it becomes more difficult. During times of drought, snakeheads generally burrow into the mud; however during rainstorms, they can more easily migrate.
Channa argus has a special chamber adjacent to its gills called a suprabranchial organ. This allows the animal to absorb oxygen directly from air by gulping it in through its mouth. This adaptation enables snakeheads to thrive in low-oxygen, stagnant bodies of water in a variety of settings, from swamps to muddy rivers to canals to ponds. It can survive outside of water for up to four days.
However, snakeheads can also use their gills to respire underwater, which they often do in the winter months. In summer and in warmer conditions — which necessitates more oxygen — the fish solely breathes air though its suprabranchial organ.
The northern snakehead is not alone in this ability: Walking catfishes, lungfishes and betta fish can all breathe air directly as well.
These fish reach sexual maturity between one and three years - depending on growing conditions - and breed from April to August. They can spawn up to five times, each time laying more than a thousand orange-yellow eggs, which are buoyant. Sometimes, they can lay many more, however, approaching 50,000 eggs per year. Snakeheads often make floating nests made of bits of vegetation to protect their eggs.
Parents defend their young for several weeks and have even been known to attack people who get too close, like a Delaware boy, whose hand was bit when he reached into a pond to investigate the shimmering color of a juvenile snakehead.
The northern snakehead has been introduced into Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Eastern Europe, Japan and the United States. Because they are voracious predators that quickly grow and reproduce, they have the potential to outcompete native species, making them a significant ecological threat.
www.nationalgeographic.com/
