Old World fish that can wriggle across land hooked in Canton

MassWildlife, a.k.a. the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife reports idiosyncratic caught a large ol' bluish snakehead food successful Reservoir Pond successful Canton connected Aug. 27.

Snakeheads don't beryllium successful Reservoir Pond, oregon anyplace other successful North America, but sometimes upwind up successful section ponds and waterway erstwhile homeowners merchandise them aft the bargain them for their aquariums and past the food get excessively large, the part says. The Canton food is the 5th confirmed 1 recovered successful Massachusetts since 2002.

In summation to eating everything astir them, the food can respire air, which lets them transverse onshore for arsenic agelong arsenic 4 days arsenic they wriggle crossed the ground, moving from 1 pond to another.

The authorities reports that, truthful far, each of the snakeheads recovered successful Massachusetts person been adults, with nary grounds they've successfully bred here.

Snakeheads volition spell aft bait and lures, and with astir 200,000 anglers retired connected the water, the information that truthful fewer person been caught successful the Commonwealth is reassuring.

Still, the part says it's amerciable to merchandise non-native food into section ponds and rivers and tells aquarium owners to sound it disconnected - and to halt releasing piranhas portion they're astatine it.

Resource managers are acrophobic astir the imaginable for snakeheads to reproduce and go established arsenic a important constituent of the food assemblage arsenic a apical predator, arsenic they person successful different states specified arsenic Maryland.

The part adds:

Anyone who captures a food that tin beryllium confidently identified arsenic a snakehead should support the fish, termination it, and study it to MassWildlife by emailing [email protected] oregon calling (508) 389-6300.