U.S. Water News Online
CHICAGO -- A northern snakehead -- a type of fish known for its voracious appetite and ability to wreak havoc on freshwater ecosystems -- has been found in Chicago's Burnham Harbor.
An angler caught the 18-inch fish recently, and thought it looked so peculiar that he packed it in ice and posted a picture of it on the Internet.
State biologists confirmed the fish was a northern snakehead, and immediately made plans to scour the harbor near Lake Michigan with electric cables to try to discover if others were there.
"I'm hoping this is just a random fish dumped out of an aquarium by somebody who didn't know what to do with it,'' said Tom Trudeau, head of the Lake Michigan fisheries program at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "The fear is seeing their young in the lake. If that happens, we're in trouble.''
The northern snakehead is a native of China, Korea and Russia and can grow to more than three feet in length. It has large teeth and a voracious appetite for other fish. Biologists fear the northern snakehead, usually imported for food or aquariums, could gobble up or out-compete native fish.
"I hope that it is the only one they find in Lake Michigan,'' said Walter R. Courtenay Jr., a snakehead expert at the U.S. Geological Survey. "If there is a male and female out there, anything can happen.''
Scientists also describe the northern snakehead as a "Frankenfish'' for its ability to survive in oxygen-depleted water, move from pond to pond and eat other fish.
"I don't think any of our native fish can wipe out the snakehead,'' Courtenay said.
Chicago imposed northern snakehead bans two years ago, after an angler found the fish in Maryland. It has also been spotted in Washington, California, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Maine.
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