Invasion of Northern Snakehead Fish Actually is not as Dangerous as it Seems

Link:

Author: Deborah Zabarenko
Published: May 30, 2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/30/northern-snakehead-fish-invasive-species_n_3358192.html

Summary:

The northern snakehead fish, also known as the "frakenfish", made its first big appearance in the United States in 2002.  Native to China's Yangtze River basin, it was a peculiar sight when a thriving population was found in a Maryland pond right outside Washington.  Many other non-native species have flourished in the United States, but not many compare to the northern snakehead, which has a body as long as 30 inches, a large toothy mouth, and can survive for days outside of water with its body secreting full-body slime.  They are told to be able to "walk" on land, out compete and wipe out native species, and also have no natural predators; these myths are not true. First, the fish don't walk but instead slither out of the water, and second, they are easy prey for ospreys and eagles.  Finally, while the snakehead population has risen from 2004, the population of the large-mouth bass has also increased, which is a prized sport fish that brings in $622 million a year to Virginia and accounts for more than 5,500 jobs in the state as well, according to the American Sportfishing Associations.  Snakeheads are also considered a delicacy in China and are sold for four or five dollars per pound in the United States.  So far, the fish have surfaced in waters from Massachusetts to California, and from Manhattan's Central Park to a pair of creeks in Arkansas.  The biggest group of them though reside within and all around Chesapeake Bay, and officials from Virginia and Maryland have been trying to keep the snakehead fish from harming the ecological balance of the bay.  Virginia fisheries biologist John Odenkirk said that the state's goal is not eradication of the snakehead, but intelligent management.

Relevance:

This article relates to our class studies about ecological threats in the curriculum.  In chapter 35, we learned that in a community sometimes there is interspecific competition when two or more species rely on the same limited resource and competitive exclusion would occur where one of the species would out compete the other one for the resources, killing off the other population.  We also learned about introduced species which were organisms that were moved from their native locations to new geographic areas by humans intentionally or accidentally.  There were two options for introduced species, and that was to die before they were able to reproduce or fight the native species for resources and overtake them.  In this article, the invasive species are being monitored and have not been wrecking havoc within ecosystems in the past decade.  While others would think the snakehead fish would overtake other native species being the invasive species they are, they have somehow been living with the large-mouth bass while sharing the same resources.  We had also learned in chapter 35 that under certain conditions, it would be possible for two species who share the same resources to live together.  The snakehead fish have also been providing the humans with a new delicacy, which is their meat!

By: Steven Yen