More People Report Invasive 'Frankenfish' Sightings In Eastern PA

WASHINGTON CROSSING, PA — Just days before a northern snakehead fish was caught in the Neshaminy Creek in Bensalem, another was spotted - and photographed - swimming in the Delaware Canal at Washington Crossing Historic Park.

Just minutes after posting a story about a snakehead caught by a Bucks County fisherman in Bensalem, Patch learned that days earlier a Washington Crossing resident had photographed one swimming in the historic Delaware Canal.

The dangerously invasive fish — sometimes called a "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.

Upper Makefield resident Judy Greger told Patch that she was out enjoying a nature walk last Wednesday when she spotted the long, snakelike fish in the shallow water of the canal near Route 532 and Taylorsville Road.

The dangerously invasive fish — sometimes called a "Frankenfish" — photographed by Judy Greger of Upper Makefield.

The dangerously invasive fish — sometimes called a "Frankenfish" — photographed by Judy Greger of Upper Makefield.

“It was pretty hard not to miss," said Greger. "What I didn't realize was that it was an invasive species. At first I thought it was a snake, but it never put its head above the water. I knew it had to be a fish but I couldn't image what kind of fish it was."

Greger found out later what it was after she sent the photos to a group of friends who she said "know a lot more about nature than I do."

So what did she think when she found out it was a Frankenfish?

"I think nature is amazing. I feel bad, though, that it's invasive and it can eat birds. You do have to wonder how it got here."

Greger, who has been taking nature photos along the towpath and canal since she retired from a corporate job at Macy's, said by far the Frankenfish is the most unusual thing she has captured with her camera on her walks along the canal.

"I'm out there 3 or 4 days a week and I always find something that catches me by surprise," she said.

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 Fish & 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.

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

Beyond simply out competing 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 the 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 Fish & Game Commission at 814-359-5163 or complete this form.