Northern snakehead

Scientific name: Channa argus

Pronunciation: Cha-nah arr-gus

Size: To around 85cm

Origin: Naturally occurs in China, southern Russia, and parts of Korea, but has invaded by being introduced further afield. It’s becoming quite a nuisance in North America.

Habitat: Pretty much anything but flowing rivers and streams. Prefers slow and static water

Tank size: Nope

Water requirements: Tolerates most conditions from acidic to alkaline; 6.0-8.2pH, hardness 4-30°H

Temperature: 0-29°C, possibly higher

Temperament: A ravenous and violent predator that attacks anything, including waterfowl

Feeding: Anything meaty; fish, crustaceans, birds, reptiles, mammals

Availability and cost: N/A — Illegal to own in the UK without a specific licence

Eurgh, the Northern snakehead. If mankind ever wipes itself out with a nuclear holocaust, this’ll be the organism that takes over the planet.

This fish is bulletproof, even amongst the most hardcore of fish. It can also survive in water just a touch above freezing, which means it could be a potential invader in the UK — hence it’s illegal to import.

There was a newspaper report in the UK around a decade ago of one of these being caught by an angler in Lincolnshire. The whole thing turned out to be a hoax, and the fish a different species, but it’s a snakehead that’s taken seriously by UK authorities.

In a nutshell, if you ever see one on sale (and that’s extremely unlikely) then call it in to DEFRA as it shouldn’t be here. Just make sure that what you’re looking at is a Northern snakehead, and not the similar looking Blotched snakehead, Channa maculata, first. Count the fin rays of the dorsal fin — if it has 45 or under, it’s C. maculata. 47 or more, and with these markings — could well be a C. argus.