Yikes! Invasive snakehead found in river near Annapolis

You’ve caught fish in some pretty amazing places.

Chesapeake Bay, Potomic River, Leech Lake—Keeping all the “fish stories” straight can be downright confusing. You know, keeping track of all those good times.

And, if Snakehead has his way, you won’t have to suffer under this terrible burden any longer.

"It's bad enough that I have to deal
with anglers, but now I have to
contend with SnakeHeads? #*@%!!!"

Scientists hanging out in the Rhode River, just south of Annapolis, recently discovered a horrifying, teeth-filled, and downright ugly Northern Snakehead. Did we mention it was egg-bearing female? Oh Carp!

The Baltimore Sun - Candus Thomson - July 18, 2011  - The 23-inch snakehead was found in the Rhode River last Thursday by biologists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center taking annual fish samples by net.

"The water was very murky with a lot of sediment. When a fish is that large, you assume it's a carp," said Stacey Havard, a Smithsonian biologist. "An intern saw the pattern and almost instantly identified it."

The center tested the fish and reported the catch to the Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Northern Snakehead

The toothy alien, a native of Asia, is an aggressive, rapidly breeding predator that can overwhelm habitat and push out local fish.

Scientists have long believed that the salinity of the bay would keep snakeheads bottled up in the Potomac River. But last year, watermen found them in St. Jerome Creek, past Point Lookout on the bay side. Click To Read More