Wild Snakehead And Fry - Thailand

block2 · 08-18-2011, 06:06 AM

i All,

There's a beck/stream that runs down the side of our home, most of the year it's dry, it's a runoff for when the village lake floods, but after the floods and the water subsides theres usually small pools left, which eventually dry up. I managed to capture a few photos of a snakehead and it's frys...

You can see the Snakehead below the white bag and it's fry above the white bag..there where hundreds of them, a beautiful red/orange in colour.

Here the Snakehead is to the left of the bag with the fry to the left of the Snakehead.

Where ever the fry went the Snakehead was not far behind, if any other fish came near the Snakehead would chase them away...here the Snakehead is surrounded by it's fry.

Here the Snakehead is to the left of the bag once again and it's fry above it.

I asked Wan what would happen to the Snakehead once the pool dried up and she reckons it's digs an hole in the mud and burys itself until the next floods come...this year though we had more rain just before the pool dried up and the beck/stream filled up again and I never seen the snakehead and fry again...so I imagine the snakehead and its fry ended up further down stream in a bigger pond somewhere.

elitesrock · 08-18-2011, 10:43 AM

Why didn't you destroy it and it's fry? They are an invasive species that destroy everything!

Betta man · 08-18-2011, 10:51 AM

Not to Thailand!

**BV77** · 08-18-2011, 07:10 PM

DESTROY IT AND THE FRY or call local fish and game, they should take care of it. Google snakehead and read what an invasive species they are. Also the dangers of them getting loose in our waterways. They are already in the Maryland area, I think. Very hard to eradicate. Immediate action is required.

**BV77** · 08-18-2011, 07:13 PM

I didn't realize he was in Thailand. The thais eat them, and also ship them live to the US.

elitesrock · 08-18-2011, 09:18 PM

Yeah I did not realize he was in Thailand either.

block2 · 08-18-2011, 11:28 PM

No Worries,

Has bettaman pointed out the Thai's eat them....they grow quite big over here and they are everywhere...at the local markets you'll usually see them alive in big bowls and the stall holder skewers them with a bamboo then puts them on a barbi. The meat is a pink colour and they taste quite nice.

Betta man · 08-19-2011, 11:31 AM

Yeah, they haven't gotten to Ca. yet... They're an invasive species in the U.S. I hear they are very aggresive...

block2 · 08-19-2011, 09:56 PM

To be honest I have not really studied them or kept them..I watched the one in my pictures for 15/20 minutes and anytime another fish came anywhere near her fry she would chase them off so they do take care of their fry...I also know they have teeth....we have quite a few in our lake and what i have seen they tend to be loners and usually lay in the reeds around the lake popping up for air every so often...also when we get floods we have a overflow pipe that runs from the cowfield out the back of us into our lake...its wire meshed off so the fish cannot escape but what the snakeheads do they jump trying to get into the pipe...they seem to love flowing water...some of them end upon the banks of the lake and they will jump and slither across the garden trying to get to the cowfield..bit like mudskippers....i suppose this is how they migrate from one lake/river to the next...I also know that they can bury themselves in mud and can survive with out water for quite a long time.

Betta man · 08-20-2011, 04:26 PM

Yep, three days. They can also travel across muddy land.

ForMany · 09-11-2011, 08:44 PM

Catch me one.

**emc7** · 09-11-2011, 09:33 PM

They are illegal in some states precisely because they can move from one body of water to another. Really difficult to stop once they get established. snakeheads are a whole family. There are some smaller, prettier, less nasty types, but the bans tend to block all of them. Like forbidding all cichlids including mbuna, discus & apistos because some tilapia got loose.