A ravenous “Frankenfish” that can “walk” on land and survive outside of water for stretches was caught on Long Island – and now officials are warning the monster can wreak havoc.
The Northern Snakehead fish was caught by a fisherman at Lily Pond in Suffolk County last week and now officials are crafting a plan of defense in case there are more of the sharp-toothed, tough-to-kill creatures still lurking locally, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Department of Environmental Conservation
“These fish can walk on land,” said Heidi O’Riordan, the regional fisheries manager for the New York state DEC.
“They don’t belong, they don’t have a natural predator, they will screw up our native fish populations — they tend to eat pretty much anything they can put in their very large mouths, ” O’Riordan added.
The Northern Snakehead fish are Native to Asia and a popular market fish for foodies, but the recent discovery of one of them on Long Island is a first, officials said.
The invasive predator likely made its way to the region through aquarium dumpings and both accidental and intentional releases from fish markets, O’Riordan explained.
The fish is so dangerous to native aquatic communities that under New York law, if a fisherman catches a northern snakehead, they have to kill it and report it to the state, the agency said.
The state DEC is now working to stop the spread of the invasive predator, which possesses python-esque markings and teeth like knives — but noted they themselves have yet to spot the Frankenfish in their search so far this week on Lake Ronkonkoma, the largest freshwater lake on Long Island.
In their efforts to locate the predators and remove them from the waters, the DEC has been “electrofishing” in the pond, which is a method where fishermen zap the water with an electrical current that temporarily stuns fish so they can be netted without injury.
