Invasive 'Frankenfish' That Can Move Across Land, Eat Birds Caught In Bucks Co.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Joshua Tees has a fish story to tell. And while it may sound fishy to most of us, for this angler of 40 years, it's one tale with a tail too true to believe.

The 52-year-old Holland fisherman snagged a snakehead Sunday at the Neshaminy Creek in Bensalem. "I was shocked. I thought I hooked a carp," Tees told Patch Tuesday. "I was like, OMG! That's a snakehead.

The Catch

The dangerously invasive fish — sometimes called "Frankenfish" — can move across land and live for days out of water. One was captured recently in Chester County, prompting warnings from game officials and conservationists.

That fish, a northern snakehead, was pulled out of the Schuylkill River near Black Rock Sanctuary in Chester County in early June.

The fish Tees caught was on the waterfalls of the Neshaminy Creek behind the old Trevose Fire Company early Sunday morning.

While the catch may have stunned Tees, it wasn't the first time the angler has come across the invasive fish.

He said he's caught 15 of them in Maryland and two in Virginia over the years fishing since he was a youngster. He does a lot of travel for his job supervising construction crews.

But this Pennsylvania catch caught him by surprise."It was kind of crazy," Tees said. "It wasn't expected."

What are snakeheads?

Natives of various parts of Asia and Africa, snakeheads are distinctive among nonnative invasive species in that they can move across both water and land.

Snakeheads are long, torpedo-shaped fish that grow to very large sizes: up to 33 inches long, and around 20 pounds, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Their diet is indiscriminate, and they feed on a variety of other freshwater fish, amphibians, some crustaceans, and small mammals they encounter in the water or during their forays on land. They've even been known to devour birds.

And due to their overall strength and the size of their teeth, they can eat prey up to about a third of their substantial body size.

Anglers must kill onsite

Anglers who catch a snakehead "must immediately kill the fish onsite" to limit its population and spread, officials said.

"I cut its head off," Tees said. "I'm a catch and release person. But you have to kill it. They eat everything I go fishing for."

Pennsylvania law prohibits both the possession and sale of live snakeheads, and fishermen who catch snakeheads are urged to contact that game commission to report the location and date.

Watch Tees show the snakehead he captured in a video he posted on Facebook

Beyond simply outcompeting native fish who share the top of the aquatic food chain, snakeheads disturb the balance of the ecosystem wherever they take hold in Pennsylvania and along the eastern seaboard of the United States. They pose a significant threat to the populations of largemouth bass, in addition to imported fish like carp and stocked fish like trout.

Northern snakeheads in PA

The first appearance of the species in the United States was in California in 1997. They appeared in the mid-Atlantic in a Maryland pond in 2002. Since then, they've been confirmed in six states altogether: Maryland and California, as well as Florida, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

They first appeared in the Keystone State when an angler pulled one from Meadow Lake in Philadelphia in 2004.

A "maze" of interconnected tributaries and tidal sloughs run to and from Meadow Lake, and environmental authorities in the state believe snakeheads to be present both elsewhere in the lower Schuylkill River and the Delaware River, in addition to the lower Susquehanna River near the Conowingo Reservoir.

To report a northern snakehead in Pennsylvania, contact the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 814-359-5163 or complete this form.

(Photos courtesy of Joshua Tees)