Snakehead - Snakehead Fish

Snakehead - Channa (Ophiocephalus) argus

A freshwater fish that reaches a length of about 110 cm and a weight of 9 kg. The snakehead has a long, almost entirely scaled body, a flattened head with a large mouth armed with numerous small, bristle-like teeth arranged in multiple rows. It has small eyes, a short snout, and a very long back part of the head, which houses a suprabranchial organ formed by the lamellar processes of the first gill arch and one of the skull bones. The mucous membrane of these plates is permeated with numerous blood vessels from the gill arteries. The body of the snakehead is elongated, almost cylindrical in the front part, and slightly compressed laterally in the tail area; the tail fin is rounded, the dorsal and anal fins are long, while the pectoral fins are small and rounded. The small ventral fins are located behind the pectoral fins. The gill openings are very wide.

The lateral line curves downward in the front part of the body and then runs straight, slightly above the middle of the side.

The snakehead is very colorful: the back is dark, greenish-black, the dorsal and tail fins are similarly colored, while the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are slightly lighter. Irregular large brown spots, sharply contrasting due to a black border, are scattered above and below the lateral line on the sides of the body. The belly is white. A double row of dark spots runs along the back and the upper part of the head. Two long narrow dark stripes extend along the sides of the head from the eyes to the rear edge of the gill cover. The underside of the head, lips, and belly are covered with small brown spots.

A predator, it feeds on fry of crucian carp, chub, frogs, and tadpoles. The diet of the snakehead also includes larvae and adult insects during their mass flight. It has special suprabranchial organs that allow it to breathe atmospheric air, so it periodically rises to the water's surface for a breath of air. In a humid atmosphere and at temperatures of +10–15°C, it can live without water for 3–4 days. It actively disperses not only in water but also on land, as it can crawl from one body of water to another.

Before spawning, snakeheads build nests by clearing a surface area of about 1 meter in diameter in the coastal vegetation. The female can lay eggs up to five times during the season.

Snakeheads mature in their third year of life at a length of just over 30 cm. They spawn in the summer, in June and July. The male and female build a nest on the water's surface by clearing a clean area about one meter in diameter from the coastal vegetation. The female lays her eggs here in batches (from one to five batches per season), which, due to a large fat droplet, float to the very surface of the water and remain among the floating leaves of water lilies and branches of hornwort. The eggs have a diameter of 1.2–1.6 millimeters and are colored yellowish due to a special pigment that aids the respiration of the developing embryo. During the season, females can lay up to 50,000 eggs. The male guards the eggs and the larvae that hatch from them for two days until they transition to active feeding. With changes in water level, some eggs may wash out of the nests and be carried downstream. The fry that hatch from such eggs then swim upstream along the shores and enter tributary bodies of water.

The larvae that hatch from the remaining eggs in the nest initially remain at the water's surface, held by the fat droplet of the yolk sac, which forms protrusions on both sides of their bodies.

Once they begin active feeding, they remain in the spawning areas. The fry feed exclusively on invertebrates, mainly crustaceans, as well as insect larvae. When their body length exceeds 20 centimeters, the snakeheads' diet consists solely of fish. They grow very quickly.

The snakehead, native to China, was introduced to Kyrgyzstan from the ponds of Uzbekistan along with herbivorous fish brought in for cultivation in the ponds of the Chui Valley.

Fish