Invasive snakehead carp found in Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 19 (UPI) -- A northern snakehead carp has been discovered in a river south of Annapolis, Md., suggesting the invasive fish escaped from the Potomac River, authorities said.

Biologists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center taking annual fish samples by net captured the mature, egg-bearing 23-inch snakehead in the Rhode River last week, The Baltimore Sun reported Monday.

"The water was very murky with a lot of sediment. When a fish is that large, you assume it's a carp," Stacey Harvard, a Smithsonian biologist, said.

A native of Asia, the snakehead is an aggressive predator that can overwhelm ecosystems and drive out local fish.

Snakehead was first found in a Maryland pond in 2002 and eradicated but showed up in Potomac River tributaries in Maryland and Virginia two years later, authorities said.

Scientists have long thought the salinity of Chesapeake Bay would keep snakeheads contained in the Potomac River.

Finding this fish, Harvard said, "was very disconcerting, especially when we found it was an egg-bearing female. I think there's concern across the board."

Northern snakeheads are established in Pennsylvania and New York, and small numbers have been caught in California, Florida, Massachusetts and North Carolina.