Snakehead (Channa argus) is a freshwater species recorded in Hong Kong, United States.
Scientific name: Channa argus · Water: Freshwater
Size: up to 100 cm
The snakehead is a benthopelagic channid of fresh water, ranging in Asia from the Amur southward to the Xi Jiang and Hainan Island in China; it has been introduced elsewhere, and Japan and the United States report adverse ecological impact after introduction. Where introduced it is a potential pest in the ecological sense, not a danger to people. It is an obligate air-breather that can stay out of the water for three to four days at temperatures between 10 and 15 °C, and it is a typical ambush predator that lies waiting for prey on the bottom, hunting mainly in the morning and evening and feeding primarily on fish. It matures at about two years and 30 cm, spawns with pelagic eggs, and is used for human consumption. Maximum length is about 100 cm total length. It is a commercial species, farmed commercially, a gamefish and kept in public aquariums. Fishing vulnerability is high at 62 of 100 and resilience low. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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