Snakehead Fish Destroying Ecosytems in U.S.

R. Kayne
(No date of publication given)
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-snakehead-fish.htm

Summary: Recent studies show that a new species of fish introduced into America's ecosystems is dominating the food chain in the water (and sometimes on land) and rapidly increasing in population size. These fish are called snakeheads. Snakeheads look a lot like eels with a head that looks like a snake. These fish can also breath air and can live on land for a short period of time. Snakeheads are huge predators and eat small mammals and fish its size. It has been said that in Asia a snakehead even ate a human. These fish came from Africa and Asia and have been supposedly introduced to U.S. waters by being freed from food markets. Snakeheads are starting to dominate U.S. waters because they are extremly adaptable and reproduce rapidly. Also, snakeheads don't have any natural predators in the U.S. so the population easily grows. This invasive species threatens to wipe out other fish populations in the U.S. and needs to be controlled. Some forms of control include: fishing competitions to catch the most snakeheads and cooking contests involving the snakeheads.

Connection: Snakeheads are a perfect of an invasive species which has been released into the U.S. and has terrorized its surroundings creating an imbalance in the ecosystem. The snakeheads also relate to our talk of evolution because they adapt from generation to generation to survive in all different types of water in America. This species is like any other invasive species, perhaps Purple Loosestrife, which outcompetes other plants and increases in population rapidly.