Rainbow Snakehead

[Mgamer20o0]

from what i know its like the snails. they cant ID the different juvys so they just banned them all.

Besides scaring a bunch of people can someone give some specifics on actual harm that any Snakehead species has caused by being introduced?

ask the ruler of madagascar if snakehead are a fish he enjoys having in the wild of his country

they kill of native species. madagascar is having a lot of problems with them. though it was the ruler who was responsible for it in the 1st place.

 

[chefjamesscott]

Which is why I mentioned to ask that particular person if his great idea is so great now.

I have a couple of madagascar cichlids in one of my tanks. Very stunning fish and if the snakeheads have their way soon to be a hobby only fish.

 

[chefjamesscott]

Besides scaring a bunch of people can someone give some specifics on actual harm that any Snakehead species has caused by being introduced?

That is very easy to show, all you have to do is google it up and you will come up with rheams of links and documented sources of impacts made by non native species being introduced. Give me a bit and I will put up some of the more word scientific based web links.

 

[jenhunt]

Aren't rainbow snakeheads considered a warm temperate species? i have heard they can take temperatures down to 6 degrees in the native range? Actually i don't know how reliable this is but a few years ago some researchers did a study regarding potential species of carp and snakehead which could become established in Canada and the Rainbow was the only species of snakehead outside the Northern which had any potential whatsoever for establishment in Canada . As well it was indicated that most of the USA was at risk from rainbow snakehead establishment.I should mention that the overall likelihood of establishment in Canada and the Northern USA was ranked as low but was still considered possible as opposed to most other snakehead species. With that said it would be very ill advised to keep snakeheads in an outdoor pond given their potential invasive nature. here is the site if anyone is interested.

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/macisaac/pages/mattcjfas.pdf

 

[RisiganL.]

I don't think ALL snakehead species should be banned. It seems that one species, the northern snakehead, got everyone banned. The true tropicals like rainbow snakeheads really should be legalized.

 

[thebrandon]

Regardless of if the fish is tropical, if released it still has the potential to thrive and destroy habitats in certain parts of the states. This particular fish is very destructive. I know many fish we keep in the hobby have impacted the environments they have been released into. But hardly any have had such an impact as the snakehead, and as fast as the snakehead. It's incredible how fast they can clear out a water way of all life then move on to the next.

Despite all that, I STILL WANT ONE! They are beautiful and truley unique fish.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

I don't think ALL snakehead species should be banned. It seems that one species, the northern snakehead, got everyone banned. The true tropicals like rainbow snakeheads really should be legalized.

some of the dwarf ones are super nice. it again comes down to iding them. from what i gathered the juvys look a lot alike so hard to id. thats the reason why they are all banned.

 

[Jannika]

Besides scaring a bunch of people can someone give some specifics on actual harm that any Snakehead species has caused by being introduced?

Rather than wait until the harm's done, I think the potential for harm by invasive species is evaluated. Here's one risk assessment study -

http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Snakehead_circ_1251/index.html

.

 

[SubRosa]

Rather than wait until the harm's done, I think the potential for harm by invasive species is evaluated. Here's one risk assessment study -

http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Snakehead_circ_1251/index.html

.

I was referring specifically to damage in the US. The case of an isolated ecosystem like Madagascar is a different case entirely. But consider the impact of the intentional introduction of Snakeheads into Hawaii. Compare that to the damage done by intentional introductions of Brown and Rainbow Trout on Darter populations in the Eastern US and the fact that these particular invasives are still introduced by the millions. Largemouth Bass are even worse. To ban an entire family of 30+ species based on the actions of 2 or 3 members of it that were totally precipitated by human action is ridiculous. It's like the old argument about banning guns because some people will misuse some of them. We need to legislate actions not objects.