The Striped snakehead Channa striata (Plah Chon) is also known as the Common snakehead, Chevron snakehead, snakehead murrel and aruan outside of Thailand. It can grow to almost 1 meter in length and up to 6kg in weight, The Current IGFA Record is 3.5kg, caught in Malaysia.
Allthough the Striped Snakehead:Channa striata ( blah Chon ) can grow to these sizes it is very uncommon to catch such a fine specimen in the wild. This is mainly due to the fact that it is prized for its tasty almost boneless meat. A 7kg fish would have a fair amount of meat and would provide a few good meals or be sold live in a wet market.
The Snakehead is a truly fascinating fish species, with its prehistoric features and atmospheric air breathing capabilitys it is almost one of a kind.
Blah Chon is a species of Snakehead in the Asian Channa Genus which is part of the widely spread Chanidae Family. The Striped Snakehead :Channa striatais one of three main snakehead species in Thailand.
The dorsal surface and sides of the fish are dark and mottled with a combination of black and ochre. Its Belly is white. Its large scaled head is where it gets its name as it is very reminiscent of a snakes head (The Great Snakehead: Channa Marulius is Known in Thai language as Chon Ghnu How, Translated to English this roughly means Cobra Snake Head). All Snakeheads have deep and wide gaping mouths full of sharp teeth used for disabling and holding prey items.
The Snakehead is true to its name with big Dark eyes and Big scaley head that really does resemble a snake. You can see in this photo its quite a prehistoric looking creature, dont let this fool you, this is the top of the food chain and a very sophisticated predator.
Striped Snakeheads can be found in ponds, streams and rivers allthough it prefers the stagnant and muddy waters of Swamps, flooded fields and plains.
In a river habitat it is commonly found in fairly deep water close to thick weed beds and lilys where it waits in ambush for its pery to move past. When prey is targeted the Striped snakehead will make a ferocious dart, grab onto its prey and hold on until the animal or fish is disabled, then it is consumed. In the Rainy season in Thailand lots of rivers burst their banks and lakes will flood. The outgoing water fills up flood plains and rice paddys where it helps fertilize the land with natural nutrients while at the same time making a nice new habitat for Snakeheads to explore and hunt.
The flooded plains and fields are the prefered habitat of the Striped Snakehead but unfortunatley this makes it relativley easy for local people to catch them with nets and using electric prods to stun them so they are easy to bag.
During the Wet season Snakeheads will migrate into the surrounding fields and river floodplains, here you can see exactly such an environment where there is lots of weeed and vegetation growth, perfect habitat for Striped Snakeheads.
If you are to venture out with Thais when they are fishing in this way you will see that there is no sport involved it is basic collecting of food. On a good day three or four people may collect over 30Kg of fish between them. The snakehead are not the only species that are collected, other species include Swamp Eels: Monopterus albus, Climbing Perch:Anabas testudineus, Snake Skin Gourami: Trichogaster pectoralis, NIle Tilapia:Tilapia nilotica and African Walking Catfish: Clarias gariepinus. These are but a few fish species but basically anything that can be eaten is caught and collected including frogs , snails, turtles even birds and spiders.
The spawning season of the Striped Snakehead in Thailand is usually from May to July during the wet season, (but breeding pairs can be found all year round) when both males and females with help to construct a nest site from water vegetation. The Eggs as well as the hatched fingerling's will usually be fiercely guarded by the males from other fish and water life. The Fingerling's will usually congregate in a ball of fry that can be seen on the surface water in a bubbling mass called a luk crok.
Bubbling balls of Snakehead Fry can for some fishermen mean an easy target as they aggrevate the defending adults with their surface lures. The Unknowing parents think that ther offspring is being attacked by Jungle Perchand so ferociously counter attack the invaders to protect the fingerlings from becoming a nice meal for a Jungle Perch. Unfortunatley for them they are then hooked up and are in for another battle with the angler at the end of the line.
When the water levels in the flood plains and paddy fields start to drop in the dry season the Snakeheads will retreat back to deeper water in the surrounding rivers, lakes or ponds or othrewise bury themselves deep in the mud where they can survive until the rains come again as long as their skin and air breathing aparatus are moist.
Striped snakeheads are considered pisciverous but they will also eat frogs, snakes, insects, earthworms, tadpoles and crustaceans. Infact a 7kg specimen was caught in Thailand on a large earthworm.
Many Thai people fishing for food put out Bamboo sticks that are jammed into the ground and left overnight with a whole range of baits attached to the hooks some common ones are snails, crabs, small frogs (kiat), insects such as grasshoppers or pieces of meat.
There are various ways for an Angler to catch striped snakhead, one of the favorites probablly because it is the most visually stimulating is with surface lures which are retrieved over weed beds or near snags where the snakeheads like to sit in wait. If ones lure crosses a snakeheads attack path it can often be seen fully emerging from the water producing a loud clap from its jaws as it clamps down on the artificial bait (If your lucky enough to get a take).
Using diving lures or fish immitation spinners, allthough not as common with anglers, is just as productive as surface fishing as the Snakeheads diet consists of a large amount of fish.As mentioned previously worms can be a great snakehead bait, they are also easy to dig from the ground and of course FREE.
The Striped Snakehead: Channa striata, a beautifull and mysterious fish, loved by many loathed by others. Whatever the opinion there is still lots to be learned about this amazing air breathing creature
There have been many reports of Snakeheads invading the USA and being labelled a dangerous invasive species and called names such as "Frankenfish". The real truth is that most of this is Media hype and scare stories from Tabloid press stating that Snakeheads attack humans and can walk on land for days.
Whether you believe these crazy tales and unfounded reports, I hope that this article has given a little more insight into what is a truly amazing and beautifull species of fish.
The Striped snakehead Channa striata (Plah Chon) is also known as the Common snakehead, Chevron snakehead, snakehead murrel and aruan outside of Thailand. It can grow to almost 1 meter in length and up to 6kg in weight, The Current IGFA Record is 3.5kg, caught in Malaysia.
