Snakehead

[Fishinthewater]

Last week I came across a dried up stream that was just a few big puddles and in them I saw long slim figures swimming and jumping into the water so I thought they were newts. Then I found a dead one and found out it was a fish. I thought it might be a snakehead because it was out of water. I was in central mass and the pictures below are taken 5 days after it died and I kept it in a plastic bag in 30-40 degree outside for 5 days. It is about 6 inches long. Please look at the pictures and tell me if it is a snakehead or some other type of fish. Thanks

[Snakehead Whisperer]

Last week I came across a dried up stream that was just a few big puddles and in them I saw long slim figures swimming and jumping into the water so I thought they were newts. Then I found a dead one and found out it was a fish. I thought it might be a snakehead because it was out of water. I was in central mass and the pictures below are taken 5 days after it died and I kept it in a plastic bag in 30-40 degree outside for 5 days. It is about 6 inches long. Please look at the pictures and tell me if it is a snakehead or some other type of fish. Thanks

Can't see any pics.

edit: Found these in your gallery. Looks like a grass pickerel turned blue. It's definitely not a snakehead. 

 

 

[Fishinthewater]

Thanks,

Can you tell me more about grass pickerel like how big they are suppose to be, if their native to streams in MA, if they can go out of the water and into land for a short period of time because I saw them jumping into the puddles, why it turned blue, and other special things about them. And those are the pics I just didn't know how to paste them to the forum. Thanks

[Snakehead Whisperer]

Thanks,

Can you tell me more about grass pickerel like how big they are suppose to be, if their native to streams in MA, if they can go out of the water and into land for a short period of time because I saw them jumping into the puddles, why it turned blue, and other special things about them. And those are the pics I just didn't know how to paste them to the forum. Thanks

It's hard to tell from the condition of the fish in the picture, but it could also be a redfin pickerel.  Neither species of pickerel usually grow much bigger than 12-16" or so. I believe they are both MA natives. No idea what color they were when they were still alive, so hard to tell how they turned blueish. Sometimes pickerel will have a blueish hue to them. 

 

Northern Snakeheads are a deep brown color typically and have a dorsal fin that runs about 2/3 of it's body length, and an anal fin that runs more than half of it's length. Pickerel inhabit shallow waters for much of their life, so my guess would be that they swam to the puddles in high water and were trapped when the water receded. 

 

Also, snakeheads don't really walk on land like the media has reported. They can cross marshy wetlands when they are fry/fingerling sized as long as they stay wet, but once they are juvenile sized they must swim where they want to go. They can breathe air, however; but so can the bowfin which is a native species in North America, as well as numerous other species of freshwater fish.

 

Welcome to the site, btw. 

[Fishinthewater]

Thanks for the info