Fear of the snakehead fish

This is a column I wrote about a snakehead fish I once owned. The picture is a government picture, not my snakehead. I had heard there were a lot of snakehead videos on youtube, but most of them were gory and disturbing -- definitely not for general audiences. Here's the photo followed by the column:



More than a decade ago, I bought a cute little fish at a pet store. The store labeled it a red snakehead. It was a unique looking fish, fairly inexpensive - and kind of cute.

He (actually I don't really know what sex it was) had an unusually healthy appetite, so I named him Hoover, even though he was only a couple inches long at the time. People remarked what an active, unique fish I had in Hoover. Shortly thereafter, everything went downhill rather rapidly. Hoover ate everything I gave him. He started to grow at an alarming rate. Then Hoover's fellow aquarium mates, who he had outgrown, started to mysteriously disappear - all of them except for one. As I started to feed Hoover one day I watched in horror as he ate his remaining tankmate whole. At this point I saw his teeth for the first time.

Hoover continued to grow and then he started to jump. Some days I would come home and the floor and wall would be covered in water that had splashed out. Other days I would come home and Hoover would be on the floor staring at me. Reportedly, they can breathe air. I would pick him up with the aid of a net and place him back into the aquarium. The escapes continued and he would even shred the nets.

By the time Hoover grew to be about 2 feet long, frankly, I was scared of him. I had a nightmare of him jumping in my bed and biting a toe off. I went back to the pet store and begged them to take him back. I didn't want any money. I just wanted Hoover out of my life. They agreed. Hoover found a new home - and I was free.

Years have since passed and the snakehead species has found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons. It appears other unlucky owners took a different path. They released their snakeheads in rivers and ponds. As it turns out, this is an invasive species of fish in the United States and there is little in the ecosystem to keep them in check.

Eventually, government bans sought to curb importing and selling of these fish, which are native to Asia. There are many varieties of snakeheads. Based on what research I could find, I believe Hoover was something nicknamed a giant snakehead. The northern snakehead has also been particularly troublesome to wildlife officials. If you happen to snag one of these fish, most officials now recommend one thing - kill it.

All of these memories came flooding back this week while I watched a National Geographic special on "Fishzilla: Snakehead Invasion." They've also been called "Frankenfish." Back when I bought Hoover, few - if any - knew what a problem these fish would become.

Here's how the program guide described them: "It's got teeth like a shark, a taste for blood, and even walks on land. It is an insatiable alien predator that can obliterate the food chain and overpower native life. Scientists are sounding the alarm. But can anything stop it?"

I think a lot of the stories on the snakehead have been exaggerated - fish tales so to speak. The Sci-Fi Channel even aired a horror movie on snakeheads. It was atrocious and went way over the top. But there's no doubt this is one scary fish. As for Hoover, I never found out what happened to him. In the end, as far as I know, he ended up at the same place I bought him - a pet store.