The northern snakehead (Channa argus) is a species of snakehead fish native to temperate East Asia, in China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea. Their natural range goes from the Amur River watershed in Siberia and Manchuria down to Hainan. It is an important food fish and one of the most cultivated in its native region, with an estimated 500 tons produced every year in China and Korea alone. Due to this, the northern snakehead has been exported throughout the world and has managed to establish non-native populations in Central Asia and North America.
Northern snakeheads are respected among some Chinese fishermen for their virtue, as parent snakefish are known to sacrifice themselves to protect their young. The young fish are said to rush to feed upon their mother after she gives birth and is temporarily unable to catch prey.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThe distinguishing features of a northern snakehead include a long dorsal fin with 49–50 rays, an anal fin with 31–32 rays, a small, anteriorly depressed head, the eyes above the middle part of the upper jaw, a large mouth extending well beyond the eye, and villiform teeth in bands, with large canines on the lower jaw and palatines. It is generally reported to reach a length up to 100 cm (3 ft 3 in), but specimens approaching 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) are known according to Russian ichthyologists. The largest registered by the International Game Fish Association weighed 8.05 kg (17 lb 12 oz), although this was surpassed by a 18.42 lb (8.36 kg) northern snakehead caught in 2016.
Its coloration is a golden tan to pale brown, with dark blotches on the sides and saddle-like blotches across the back. Blotches toward the front tend to separate between top and bottom sections, while rear blotches are more likely to be contiguous. Coloration is nearly the same between juveniles and adults, which is unusual among snakeheads, and is similar to Channa maculata, but can be distinguished by two bar-like marks on the caudal peduncle (where the tail attaches); in C. maculata, the rear bar is usually complete, with pale bar-like areas before and after, while in C. argus, the rear bar is irregular and blotched, with no pale areas around it.
The northern snakehead is a freshwater species and cannot tolerate salinity in excess of 10 parts per million. It is a facultative air breather; it uses a suprabranchial organ and a bifurcated ventral aorta that permit aquatic and aerial respiration.: 10–13 This unusual respiratory system allows it to live outside of water for several days; it can wriggle its way to other bodies of water or survive being transported by humans. Only young of this species (not adults) may be able to move overland for short distances using wriggling motions. The preferred habitats of this species are stagnant water with mud substrate and aquatic vegetation, or slow, murky, swampy streams; it is primarily piscivorous, but is known to eat crustaceans, other invertebrates, and amphibians.
The northern snakehead can double its population in as little as 15 years. It reaches sexual maturity at age three or four, when it will be about 30 to 35 cm (1 ft 0 in – 1 ft 2 in) long. The eggs are fertilized externally; a female can lay 100,000 eggs a year. Fertilization occurs in shallow water in the early morning. The eggs are yellow and spherical, about 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter. Eggs hatch after about 1–2 days, but they can take much longer at lower temperatures. The eggs are guarded by the parents until egg absorption, when the eggs are about 8 mm (0.31 in) long.
