View WAC 220-12-090 Classification - Nonnative aquatic
animal species with photos
Channa argus (Northern snakehead)
Animal Fish Family: Channidae Classification: Prohibited
The freshwater
fish has an ugly wide mouth and heavy scales, making it look like a snake's
head and letting it swallow prey as large as it is. With sharp teeth and
powerful jaws, big snakeheads can bite other fish in half.
Adults eat
fish, frogs, aquatic birds and small mammals, while juvenile snakehead fish
prey on earthworms, water bugs, tadpoles, dragonfly larvae and other organisms.
The fish have a rudimentary lung that allows them to live out of the water
for up to three days. They have been known to ‘walk' from one water
body to another.
There are
28 species of snakehead. Some are popular with aquarium enthusiasts – at
least until they outgrow their tanks. More often the fish are imported live
because they are a popular Asian cuisine item. The fish has been found in
seven states, not counting the fish that WDFW confiscated at the Canadian
border a few years ago.
