Snakehead fish (predator photo can be seen below) has a greenish-brown body elongated with dark spots. Ahead it is almost cylindrical, compressed only closer to the tail. The head is somewhat reminiscent of a snake, as flattened and covered with large scales as snake shields. Some see it as a great resemblance to the head of a gyurza. In one of the pictures, the teeth of a predator are clearly visible. It is likely to be difficult to get out of such a mouth. In addition, snakeheads are fish with a special structure of the respiratory system. In addition to the gills, she still has supraventricular organs that allow breathing atmospheric air.
What nicknames does the snake-headed fish have: green snake, aquatic, toothed, dragon, eel, frog and so on. Today this predator lives in the rivers and lakes of the Khabarovsk Territory and Karakalpakia, as well as in reservoirs that extend between the Tien Shan and the Caspian. In general, India is considered its homeland, and it is also found in the waters of tropical Africa.
Snakehead is a fish that loves to settle in quiet ponds, choosing places that are swarmed or heavily overgrown with algae. He is absolutely not afraid of a lack of oxygen, as he periodically rises to the water surface and swallows the air with a special champ. Snakehead fish easily survive even in drained ponds. She tears out a chamber in the silt, lubricating it with mucus, and digs into it in anticipation of the next season. Lurking in the pits, this predator can wait out the frost, without water it can stay for 5 days.
Snakehead - a fish that easily changes its habitat. To do this, it creeps from land to water on land, and travels considerable distances. And local residents during such mass migrations catch predators crawling in the grass. Typically, such a relocation is associated with a lack of food, because snakeheads are fish, which is the king and god in their habitat. She eats everything that comes in her way. This can be tadpoles, fish, invertebrates, frogs, small rodents and even waterfowl, which are dragged by a predator under water. Snakeheads are very voracious, they have perfectly developed jaws with many strong and sharp teeth. Any living creature falling into such a jaw has practically no chance of salvation.
Puberty in this fish occurs when it reaches a length of 30 cm, and this happens no earlier than two years of age. It spawns in the first two summer months, when the water temperature rises to 21 ºC. The snakehead builds a nest from various water plants, and in diameter it reaches at least 1 meter. The females of these fish have high productivity. They can make about 5 clutches in one season, and in each of them there are from 25 to 35 thousand eggs. Literally a few days later, fry appear, and their parents carefully guard their offspring.
The snakehead has no natural enemies in its habitat. When he moves to a new territory, not a single predatory fish is able to cope with it . That is why snakehead fish is a real threat to the rest of the underwater world. And, for example, in several states of America this predator is banned from import, it is not allowed to keep even in aquariums. In our country, he has not done much damage. We have snakeheads - a wonderful object of hunting. And many anglers with great excitement and pleasure pluck this river snake!