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Earlier this past week, a Shoals area fisherman thought he had hooked a large striped bass while fishing the Tennessee River near Waterloo, AL. His catch was no stripe, however.

What was reeled in was a fish unlike anything Richard Anderson had ever seen. Local wildlife biologists have tentatively identified the fish as a Ganna marulius, or Snakehead fish. The speciman is currently being kept on ice at The Harbor Restaurant in Florence.

Snakeheads are a food and aquarium fish native to Southeast Asia but are also considered an 'invasive' species, and are causing trouble for sport fishermen in other parts of the United States.

Link
Alaska, land of the individual and other endangered species.
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unclegus,
I don't think they are deadly to humans, and they are non-poisonous. They typically are so ferocious they will threaten other fish in the area and effectively destroy the other populations.
I could be wrong, because if I am not mistaken there was amovie on the Sci-Fi channel not too long ago, called Snakehead Terror, and in that movie they were devouring the local residents much like piranha. I hope I am right this time however....LOl
quote:
Ganna marulius



All you ever wanted to know about this scourge:
Link


Excerpt: "A FISH BELIEVED ERRONEOUSLY TO HAVE A POISONOUS BITE
In any material published by the Thai Fisheries Department, the true English name given to the Channa marulius is in fact Great Snakehead. Because of its long and thin reptile body and its cobra-like head, the Thai people call that fish in their language "Pla Chon Gnu Hao" which means "fish-cobra". That is also why local anglers referring to that fish use the English name of "cobra snakehead" rather than "great snakehead".

"I do too. I feel it is in a way much proper, not to mention it sounds to my ears much better. A funny thing about it is, because of its serpent-like head, most Thai people still erroneously believed the cobra snakehead has a poisonous bite."

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quote:
Originally posted by teyates:
unclegus,
I don't think they are deadly to humans, and they are non-poisonous. They typically are so ferocious they will threaten other fish in the area and effectively destroy the other populations.
I could be wrong, because if I am not mistaken there was amovie on the Sci-Fi channel not too long ago, called Snakehead Terror, and in that movie they were devouring the local residents much like piranha. I hope I am right this time however....LOl
If it`s on ScFi then it`s got to be true Big Grin
quote:
Originally posted by geddon97:
quote:
Originally posted by teyates:
unclegus,
I don't think they are deadly to humans, and they are non-poisonous. They typically are so ferocious they will threaten other fish in the area and effectively destroy the other populations.
I could be wrong, because if I am not mistaken there was amovie on the Sci-Fi channel not too long ago, called Snakehead Terror, and in that movie they were devouring the local residents much like piranha. I hope I am right this time however....LOl
If it`s on ScFi then it`s got to be true Big Grin


Yes, after the recent movie about the killer sheep, I find them quite disturbing now. I iwll never be able to look at mutant sheep the same way again...LOL
The greatest danger of these fish is how fast they reproduce and how aggressive they are to other species. They attack other fish and kill them out while taking over river streams. Here are some links you might click on to find out more information.

Great Snakehead Fish

Washington Post Article

West VA Wildlife Resources page about them in West Va

US Ag Library info on them

It's a pretty strong recommendation to kill something but I've heard they can be poisonous to humans and definitely are known to be dangerous to other game fish. I hated to hear they had migrated down to the Tennessee River, this could be disastrous to the area as they have no vulnerability to other fish in the area.
In Asia, the snakehead is a delicacy, but then so is cobra.

Here's a few recipes:

Link


"One is from China, where the fish are stocked in the rice paddies of Guangdong to help keep pests down, and are usually cooked whole for 30 minutes in a bamboo steamer with soy sauce, scallions, onions, shiitake mushrooms and garlic.

But Buizer prefers to fork the flesh off after steaming, and make it into a light patty like a crab cake, deep-fry it to make it crunchy, then top it with a sauce made from green mangoes, lime juice, fish sauce and chilies."

Link
quote:
Originally posted by doobiebrother88:
i went down to the marina on tuesday to look at the snakehead and was told it was not a snakehead but some other kind of fish.


You were informed correctly. The fish on display at the marina is a bowfin (Amia calva), also known as a "grinnel" or "mudfish." It is a primitive fish that has the ability to survive dry conditions by burrowing down in wet mud. It has an accessory breathing organ, so it does not rely solely on gills. Bowfin look a lot like snakeheads, but snakeheads get much larger. A four or five-pound bowfin is a big one and the largest one I know of is a 12-pounder caught by an old friend in Mississippi. Be careful if you catch a bowfin; they have teeth that can cut you up!

Bowfin are native fish and pose no threat to the local sport fishery. They are lousy as a table fish. Be glad that this thing is NOT a snakehead, since that critter is indeed a real menace, as noted by other posters.

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