Snakehead Fish: ID vs Bowfin, Range and What to Do

If you caught a long, mottled, toothy fish in the eastern United States, the odds are high that it is a bowfin, a native species that is frequently killed by mistake. Check before you act.

Virginia DWR gives the two side by side:

• Northern snakehead — generally tan with dark brown mottling, long dorsal fin and long anal fin, numerous canine-like teeth similar to a pike or pickerel, maximum around 36 inches and 18 pounds
• Bowfin — generally tan-olive with dark olive reticulation, long dorsal fin, bony scales, small canine and peg-like teeth, maximum about 32 inches, and a black spot at the base of the tail that is more prominent in males

That tail spot is the single fastest check in the field. A long anal fin running well back toward the tail points to snakehead; a short one points to bowfin.

American eel is the other common confusion on a dark, wriggling fish: it has no pelvic fins at all and its dorsal and anal fins merge with the tail, reaching about 40 inches. If you are unsure, photograph it and the app identifies it before you decide what to do with the fish.

Northern snakeheads are native to China, Russia and Korea, including the lower Amur River basin, the Ussuri basin, Lake Khanka, the Sungari River in Manchuria and the Tungushka.

USGS attributes US introductions primarily to unauthorized intentional release from aquariums or live food markets. The species made up the greatest volume and weight of all live snakeheads imported into the US until 2001, driven by demand in food markets and restaurants. The earliest US record on file is from Pennsylvania in 1880.

Populations are now established in Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Arkansas. Records exist without establishment in California from 1997, Florida from 2000, Illinois from 2004, Massachusetts between 2001 and 2023, and North Carolina between 2002 and 2007.

The Potomac system is where the species is most firmly established. Eradication attempts, including rotenone treatments, have had limited success.

The northern snakehead is an obligate air breather, which USGS describes as letting it survive in poorly oxygenated water. It has a chamber above the gills for taking oxygen from air, and it uses it routinely rather than as an emergency measure.

That is the real biological point, and it is what makes snakeheads able to live in ditches, backwaters and stagnant shallows where predatory fish normally cannot. It also means a snakehead stays alive out of water far longer than a bass would.

The overland-travel stories that dominate coverage of this fish are not what makes it a management problem. The problem is a large, long-lived, air-breathing predator that spawns repeatedly through the summer, in habitat that native predators use less effectively.

Adults are voracious feeders and USGS puts fish at more than 97% of the diet, with crustaceans and frogs making up the rest.

Reproduction is the other half of the concern. Spawning runs from April through August, with 1,300 to 1,500 eggs per spawn and up to five spawns in a year, and eggs about 1.8 mm across. A single pair can produce several broods in one season.

USGS lists the potential impacts as predation on native fish and competition for food and habitat with species such as largemouth bass. Those are stated as concerns rather than measured outcomes — which is honest, and is also why agencies would rather stop new introductions than try to quantify damage after the fact.

Rules differ by state and they change, so the correct first step is to check your state wildlife agency's current snakehead page rather than acting on general advice. In several states it is illegal to return a live snakehead to the water or to transport one alive.

What applies everywhere:

• Be certain of the identification first — killing a native bowfin by mistake is a common and avoidable error
• Photograph the fish, note the exact location, and report it to your state wildlife agency
• Do not move a live fish to another water body under any circumstances
• Do not release an aquarium fish of any species into the wild

Snakeheads are eaten and are regarded as good table fish where they are established, and in some states harvest is actively encouraged. Follow your state's consumption advisories for the water body you fished, as you would for any freshwater catch.

Yes. Snakeheads are valued food fish across Asia, and US agencies encourage anglers to keep and eat the ones they catch. Wikipedia lists names from across the region, including ca loc in Vietnam and ikan gabus in Indonesia, and notes that snakeheads are farmed commercially and used in traditional dishes.

In Maryland, the Department of Natural Resources asks anglers to harvest the fish, which it now calls "Chesapeake Channa", and points to recipes on the state's Maryland's Best site. Keeping and eating snakeheads is one of the ways the state reduces their numbers.

As with any freshwater catch, check your state's consumption advisory for the water you fished, and cook fish thoroughly.

They are aggressive predators and protective parents, but the sources we checked record no attacks on people by northern snakeheads. The Smithsonian's National Zoo describes an aggressive, carnivorous temperament, with a dominant female taking feeding priority over the others, and a diet in the wild that includes fish up to a third of the snakehead's own length, frogs, beetles and dragonfly larvae.

They are also protective parents: Maryland DNR says newly hatched larvae are protected by one or both parents until they reach the juvenile stage.

Handle a landed snakehead with care: it has many sharp teeth (see above) and stays alive and active out of water for a long time.

Federal law sets the baseline: all snakehead species are listed as injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act, which prohibits importing them or moving them across state lines (New York Invasive Species Information). Wikipedia notes that since 2002 it has been illegal to possess a live snakehead in many US states.

State instructions differ in detail:

• New York: do not release it. Kill it, freeze it in a double bag, and report the fish and the location to a local natural resource agency (New York Invasive Species Information). New York's first record was at Meadow Lake in Queens in 2005, followed by Wawayanda in 2008
• Maryland: harvest the fish. If it carries a tag, measure it, note the exact location and call the number on the tag. Fish of 30 inches or more qualify for a FishMaryland Invasive Species Award (Maryland DNR)

Maryland DNR says the species is established in more than 60 river miles of the Potomac. Wherever you are, confirm it is not a native bowfin first, then follow your own state's current rules.

The northern snakehead is one of more than 50 snakehead species. Wikipedia places them in two genera: Channa in Asia and Parachanna in Africa. The largest is the giant snakehead, Channa micropeltes, with a record fish of 13.61 kg (30 lb), and five species can reach 1 m or more.

Out of water, Wikipedia says snakeheads can survive on land for up to four days if they stay wet, and the Smithsonian's National Zoo describes how they move on land by working the head and the rear fin in opposite directions.

Sources disagree on how many eggs a female lays. USGS (above) gives 1,300 to 1,500 eggs per spawn; Wikipedia says up to 15,000 eggs per spawn, up to five times a year. Size figures differ too: Virginia DWR gives a maximum of about 36 inches, while New York Invasive Species Information says the fish grows to about 4 feet. The general point holds either way: a snakehead population can grow fast once it is established.

Owning a live snakehead is illegal in much of the US. Wikipedia says it has been illegal to possess a live snakehead in many states since 2002, and names California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Virginia, Louisiana, Rhode Island and New York among the states with bans.

California shows how strict the rules are. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) puts all snakehead species on its list of restricted animals: they cannot be imported, transported or possessed without a permit. CDFW records only one confirmed northern snakehead in the state, from Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino County in 1997, and says the species is not established there. If you find one in California, CDFW asks you not to release it, to freeze it, and to report it to the CDFW Invasive Species Program at (866) 440-9530 or Invasives@wildlife.ca.gov.

CDFW lists these features for the snakehead family as a whole: a long, torpedo-shaped body with long dorsal and anal fins, large scales, eyes set toward the top of the head, a small head with a large mouth and sharp teeth, tan to black colouring with spots or blotches, and an organ above the gills that works as a primitive lung. CDFW adds that snakeheads can exceed 4 feet and 40 pounds; that figure covers the largest species, not the northern snakehead, which Virginia DWR tops out at about 36 inches.

Sources count the family differently. CDFW gives 38 members of the family Channidae, about 12 of them considered invasive or potentially harmful; Wikipedia says more than 50 species in two genera, Channa in Asia and Parachanna in Africa. Egg numbers also differ by species and source: Wikipedia says females can release up to 15,000 eggs at once, while USGS gives 1,300 to 1,500 eggs per spawn for the northern snakehead.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Every number names the organisation it comes from, and where sources disagree we say so instead of picking one silently. Prices and rules are given with the date we checked them; they change, so confirm before you rely on them. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.