How did snakehead fish get into the United States?

Most snakehead fish will avoid contact with humans. In captivity, many will actually act shy around people. However, when guarding their eggs or young, they can become aggressive if approached. One species, the giant snakehead ( Channa micropeltes) native to southeastern Asia, has been reported to be aggressive toward humans who got too close to their nest. Other snakeheads are not as aggressive...

Snakeheads are air-breathing freshwater fishes that are not native to North America. In scientific terms, snakeheads are divided into two distinct genera: Channa (snakeheads of Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia) Parachanna (African snakeheads) In the summer of 2002 and again in late spring 2004, Channa argus, the northern snakehead, generated national media attention when anglers caught this fish in a...

During all of their life stages, snakehead fish compete with native species for food and habitat. A major concern is that snakeheads might out-compete (and eventually displace) important native or other established predatory fish that share the same habitat. As adults, snakeheads can be voracious predators. Should snakeheads become established in North American ecosystems, their predatory behavior...

An invasive species is an introduced, nonnative organism (disease, parasite, plant, or animal) that begins to spread or expand its range from the site of its original introduction and that has the potential to cause harm to the environment, the economy, or to human health. A few well-known examples include the unintentional introduction of the West Nile virus, chestnut blight, the South American...