Politics & Government

Man Finds Snakehead Fish in St. Mary's County

A 26-inch northern snakehead fish was reportedly found in a large puddle of water.

For those who have lived in the area for the past decade, you may remember in 2002 when an angler fishing in Crofton Pond caught a strange fish: the northern snakehead.

The fish, nicknamed by some as "Franken-fish," looks like a snake with fins. It has sharp teeth and eats fish, crustaceans, insects and plants. One of its most unusual characteristics is that it can breathe air and survive outside a body of water for days as long it is able stay moist—it could even survive in a puddle.

It was in a 4-by-4-foot puddle just 6 inches deep that a man in St. Mary's County recently found a snakehead fish.

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The Enterprise reported that the 26-inch snakehead fish was found by a runner near Leonardtown and it was not the first of its kind found in the area.

Sightings of snakeheads were reported in Breton Bay, the Wicomico River and other tributaries in St. Mary’s—as well as in Bowie and the Potomac, according to The Enterprise.

Find out what's happening in Croftonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch previously reported that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said someone illegally placed the fish in the Potomac River and it has wreaked havoc from Great Galls down to the Rhode and Nanticoke rivers because the snakehead is a top predator in the waterways.

DNR sponsors an to offer prizes and possibly cash for anyone who removes at least one of the “invasive, non-native” snakeheads from the bay and its waterways. The contest lasts until Nov. 30.

Watch the video by the DNR to.

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