What fish is this?

[Hez]

Hello!  

Just looking for some help identifying a fish we caught this morning on the Harris Chain in central Florida.

 

we think it's a snake head, but just wanted to be sure.  I always thought they were darker in color.  We caught 3 of them this morning - have never caught any in this lake before.  The other 2 were a little smaller, and a little bit lighter color.

Great fighting fish though 

[Gundog]

My guess is bowfin. Anybody else got any ideas.

[soflabasser]

Bowfin

[Penguino]

Definetly a bowfin. The way to tell is by looking at the anal fin. Snakeheads have really elongated anal fins, while bowfin only have a small fin as shown in the picture.

[Hez]

33 minutes ago, Penguino said:

Definetly a bowfin. The way to tell is by looking at the anal fin. Snakeheads have really elongated anal fins, while bowfin only have a small fin as shown in the picture.

10-4, thanks for clarifying that for me.  Prior to this post, I thought the snakehead and bowfin were the same fish.

 

thanks guys.

[hawgenvy]

Apparently, bowfin (aka choupique) roe is very valuable. It's sort of imitation caviar. And if you catch a snakehead in clean water, eat it. Very delicious.

[Penguino]

13 hours ago, hawgenvy said:

Apparently, bowfin (aka choupique) roe is very valuable. It's sort of imitation caviar. And if you catch a snakehead in clean water, eat it. Very delicious.

What type of fish does snakehead taste like? We catch a few of those every year up in Jersey and typically, they all go in the dumpster.

[hawgenvy]

3 hours ago, Penguino said:

What type of fish does snakehead taste like? We catch a few of those every year up in Jersey and typically, they all go in the dumpster.

Very delicate, white flesh, not unlike sole.

It is very common in Vietnam where it is grilled on a wood fire, opened up dorsally, the bones removed, seasoning applied, and served on a platter showing off the toothy grin of the head.

Don't feel obliged to show the head to your dinner guests in New Jersey!

 

[soflabasser]

On 8/7/2016 at 1:55 PM, hawgenvy said:

Very delicate, white flesh, not unlike sole.

It is very common in Vietnam where it is grilled on a wood fire, opened up dorsally, the bones removed, seasoning applied, and served on a platter showing off the toothy grin of the head.

Don't feel obliged to show the head to your dinner guests in New Jersey!

 

I have only read good things about the taste of snakehead,but it's hard for me to consider eating them from the canals I catch them from.These canals are very polluted,and I won't be surprised if these snakeheads have high levels of methylmercury and other types of pollution in their meat.