Freakish fish with monstrous appetite causes fear in Maryland (Frankenfish walks; eats anything)

AZCentral.com ^ | 6.26.02

[mhking]

Dreaded by fish biologists, it is capable of clearing out a pond of all living creatures and then wriggling on to new hunting grounds on its belly and fins.

Even worse, the fisherman - perhaps thinking it was a rare native species - released it.

[mattdono]

An amphibous Chupa-Cabra?

[EggsAckley]

Shoot! I wanted to see a pic of this guy.....a walking fish. Huh. Reminds me of the chinese "weather loach" that will "climb" or jump out of the water when the barometric pressure changes.

Wish I could see this pic......

[Khepera]

We should treat leftists the same way.

[nina0113]

The team could get rid of the fish by doing away with the vegetation where they hide and try to catch them, or by dousing the pond with rotenone, a suffocating poison.

One word - dynamite.

[FourtySeven]

LOL......this is a great story, thanks.

[VOA]

Snakeheads began arriving in this country 30 years ago as a delicacy for
Asian food markets, Courtenay said.

Hmmm...do I smell a wonderful class-action lawsuit that will put any Asian food market
that carried this satan-fish out of bidness?

What's the economic cost to damaging sports fishing (and some commercial fishing)
throughout a region or a country? Think of all the fishing licenses, rods/tackle,
and beer and chips that won't get sold...not to mention those bass boats!

[DoughtyOne]

the Case of the Freeper FRiva Feva is under scrutiny - super-sleuths are welcomed
come resolve the way to yesterday's Target Post, you're not out of the running yet
win your registration fees to the FRive Las Vegas Conference if you dare

 
 

[ncpastor]

Umm...any chance we could let one of these things loose at Hill and Bill's house?

[DoughtyOne]

Sounds like my former inlaws.

[mhking]

Damn - it looks like the entire story didn't come across - here it is again...

---

Freakish fish with monstrous appetite causes fear in Maryland

June 27, 2002 09:40:00

WASHINGTON - At first, reports of the strange-looking creature with the head of a snake and a gaping saw-toothed maw were dismissed as just another fish tale. A bowfin, most likely. Or some other kind of exotic fish that outgrew its tank and was tossed into the pond by its owner.

But two weeks after an unidentified angler caught the thing in a drainage pond behind a suburban Crofton, Md., shopping center, state officials solved the mystery. An exotic fish expert in Florida identified the creature from a photo as a northern snakehead, prized as a delicacy in China and Korea where it originates, but a nasty Frankenfish, as far as U.S. officials are concerned.

It grows to nearly three feet, eats whatever it wants - mostly other fish - can live through icy winters and survives even in oxygen-deprived waters.

But there's more: It can crawl out of the water and wiggle across land, surviving up to four days.

Dreaded by fish biologists, it is capable of clearing out a pond of all living creatures and then wriggling on to new hunting grounds on its belly and fins.

Even worse, the fisherman - perhaps thinking it was a rare native species - released it.

Biologists from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service mobilized, setting out to sandbag the pond, which sits in the floodplain of the Little Patuxent River.

"The fear is: This thing could hop from the pond, across the floodplain and into the river, and then all bets are off," said Bob Lunsford, a biologist with the department. "It's the baddest bunny in the bush. It has no known predators in this environment, can grow to 15 pounds, and it can get up and walk. What more do you need?"

So they tried trapping it, baiting some giant minnow traps with frozen herring, and casting lines over the side of a canoe. Nothing.

They tried shocking it out of the water. Still nothing.

They could pump out the pond, but the only place to dump the water would be the nearby Patuxent River, where lots of native fish would become fodder for the voracious snakehead or snakeheads, however many there may be.

The team could get rid of the fish by doing away with the vegetation where they hide and try to catch them, or by dousing the pond with rotenone, a suffocating poison.

But both options could give the fish enough time to escape across land.

Frustrated, Lunsford plans to go out to the pond again later this week with more traps and bait.

The best option may be to simply wait it out, suggested Walter Courtenay Jr., the exotic fish biologist Lunsford consulted.

"I don't know of anything admirable about these fish," said Courtenay, professor emeritus of zoology at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. "The only recourse they've got is to either get rid of the vegetation or wait until winter when it dies back, and kill all the fish in the pond."

Snakeheads began arriving in this country 30 years ago as a delicacy for Asian food markets, Courtenay said. Because they can survive for days out of water, they easily ship and arrive to the markets alive, he said.

State officials suspect the fish in the Crofton pond was bought at an area fish market. Investigators are looking into reports that it may have been released as a religious offering, a practice by some eastern religions.

There are 25 kinds of snakehead fish, and all are illegal to possess in 13 states, but not in Maryland, said Courtenay. He is studying the threat, and expects to issue a report to Fish & Wildlife later this year that recommends banning its importation altogether.

Meanwhile, wildlife managers say they will continue to consider their options.

"If you catch it, kill it," said Lunsford. "It's not a 'dead or alive' thing - we want it dead."

[VOA]

Even worse, the fisherman - perhaps thinking it was a rare native species - released it.

Good job Enviro-Wackos.
Now you've scared/brain-washed enough of the populace that even an average-Joe fisherman
is scared enough that he throws back a dangerous fish he should have kept (if not
kill with a shovel!).

[monkey]

It has no known predators in this environment, can grow to 15 pounds, and it can get up and walk.

I knew this evolution stuff would bite us in the butt eventually.

[blackbag]

[malakhi]

[VOA]

Shoot! I wanted to see a pic of this guy.....a walking fish.

I think this might be one that was profiled in National Geographic maybe 20 years ago.

I think that at that time it was scaring the h-ll out of fish-and-game authorities in Florida.

I may be confused on this...I don't remember this thing being able to get as big
as 15 pounds.

I wonder if no photos are included because some PETA member of the staff is
afraid of contributing to a snake-head fish holocaust (LOL!).

[Alouette]

It's the baddest bunny in the bush. It has no known predators in this environment, can grow to 15 pounds, and it can get up and walk. What more do you need?"

Hot sauce? Beer batter?

[Xphantasos]

"I don't know of anything admirable about these fish," said Courtenay, professor emeritus of zoology at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

Sounds like he could be prosecuted for a "hate crime" or "species profiling"!

;^)

[TomGuy]

Image from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

[tophat9000]

ASIAN SNAKEHEADS

[BibChr]

Wish I could see this pic.....

Who's the man?

Dan

[Khepera]

Lake Kenyir, Malaysia Snakehead Fish

[gdani]

[Some hope remaining.]

Beautiful and strong snakehead fish (toman); Lake Kenyir, Malaysia

[LarryLied]

Snakeheads ...

Scientific name is L. Jerroldus Nadlerus

[Some hope remaining.]

Oh, you beat me by four minutes. I shouldn't have had to spend time remembering how to post an image.

[techcor]

I can't believe that after 24 posts nobody has posted the three-eyed fish from the Simpsons. I bet someone does eventually.

[malakhi]

[sheik yerbouty]

"It eats everything.."

[FormerLurker]

Wish I could see this pic......

He doesn't look that scary..

[aruanan]

Ancient story, years old.

[skeeter]

Looks like it'd make a great pair of shoes.

[DETAILER]

aaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

[scholar]

I think this might be one that was profiled in National Geographic maybe 20 years ago.

You and I are probably thinking about the same thing. There were "walking catfish" in Florida. Allegedly they could get up and walk away from any inhospitable pond.

Nature lover that I am, I finally got tired of the environmentatlist "the world is coming to an end" agenda. Consequently, I have not kept up with this stuff for a long time.

[Paul Atreides]

Rosie wasn't kidding when she said she was no longer the Queen of Nice.

[Yup1922]

A few sticks of tnt and this sucker will float to the surface.

[gdani]

[xJones]

Oh man, why'd you post this thread? It's giving me the creeps. The darn things are always hungry, they can eat anything their own size, and they can walk and jump! Somewhere there's a Stephen King novel waiting to be written.

Snakehead fish require large amounts of food and are continuously hungry...

Oddly this predatory fish is known to swallow prey which is as large as itself. Adults are known to prey on fish, frogs, aquatic birds and small mammals,...

These fish are excellent jumpers with some being seen leaping out of the water to capture small organisms.

click

[RoughDobermann]

Blinky the Fish

[MoJo2001]

Are you sure it's not a member of the Kennedy family returning to the pond scum from which they came from?

[RoughDobermann]

Mine's better!! :-)

[A2J]

RE: #23,p. Scientific name:

ilikeisfemalis

[FormerLurker]

Is it soup yet? :)

---

Watercress Soup with Snakehead and
Duck Gizzard ¥Í³½³¯µÇ¦è¬vµæ´ö

Ingredients watercress 15 oz snakehead 1 pc pork spareribs 10 oz dried duck gizzard 2 slices candied dates 5 pcs dried tangerine peel 1/2 pc water 6 cups

Seasoning salt 1 tsp

Method

1. Soak watercress in salted water for 20 minutes. Wash and drain.
2. Blanch pork spareribs and duck gizzard. Rinse.
3. Scale, gut and wash the fish. Wipe dry. Fry with 1 tbsp oil until both sides are slightly brown.
4. Boil 12 bowls of water together with tangerine peel. Add all the ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer for 3 hours. Season with salt and serve.

watercress	Pork Ribs	Dried Duck Gizzard	Candied Dates	Snakehead

¡@

Food No.1 www.foodno1.com All Rights Reserved 2000   Copyright and Disclaimer
Managed by NetMedia Int'l Ltd  Tel: (852) 2572-8868 E-mail: info@healthno1.com

[mhking]

MMMMMmmmmmm...Unprocessed fish sticks....

[strela]

Give me an old magneto and a couple of battery cables to hang over the side of my boat, for I intend to go in harm's way ...

[PsyOp]

We should treat leftists the same way.

I thought WAS a story about leftists. Especially when they said "snakeheads." I immediately thought of Carvill.

[gdani]

Mine's better!! :-)

Oh yeah, well I also contributed the Rosie picture - not that that's a *good* thing.

[Trueblackman]

Sounds like a bio for Maryland's Lt Governor KKT

[RoughDobermann]

You should be punished for posting such a heinous picture. I recommend redeeming yourself by posting a picture that is somewhat easier on the eyes...

[malakhi]