Jeremy Wade holds a giant snakehead, a native of Southeast Asia and some areas of India. The most aggressive species of snakehead, it is capable of growing to over 3 feet in length and weighing over 40 pounds.
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Jeremy Wade with buckets of giant snakehead young. These fish are a valuable fish food in Southeast Asia, where they are prized in clay pot dishes and pickled preparations.
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Young giant snakeheads are red with orange and black lateral stripes. They feed on plankton, aquatic insects and mollusks, while adults feed on other fish and the occasional amphibian.
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Jeremy Wade with a bullseye snakehead, or great snakehead. Jeremy caught this South Asian native in Florida in the United States, where the snakehead is a relatively new — and potentially very destructive — invasive species.
Image Credit: DCL
The bullseye snakehead has a large mouth, shiny teeth and a primitive lung, or air chamber, above its gills that allows it to survive out of water for up to four days. The snakehead can "walk" across land up to a quarter of a mile, a useful adaptation in its native Asia during times of drought.
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A population of invasive snakeheads can quickly devastate native fish populations. Not only do they prey on fish, but they breed at an alarming rate: up to five times a year, with females releasing up to 15,000 eggs at each spawning.
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The bullseye snakehead is a top-level predator with no natural enemies outside of their native environment. The United States is taking this threat very seriously.
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Imported to North America in the 1970s to control algae growth in aquaculture and municipal wastewater treatment facilities, the silver carp is today a highly invasive species in the United States. Here, one leaps from the water smack into the back of Jeremy Wade's head.
More Killer Fish Photos | About the Giant Snakehead | How to Catch a Snakehead (video) | Diving for Snakeheads (video) | The Giant Snakehead (video) | Catching a Bullseye Snakehead (video) | Carp Have Panic Attack (video)
Image Credit: DCL
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