Those aren't babies, those are older snakeheads. Juvenile northern snakeheads are bright orange, they look like a submerged basketball. At that size, they are being picked off, I can promise that, I've sat and watched it. If they weren't being picked off, you'd be able to walk across the river on the backs of them.
The one in your last post, unforunately, isn't that large. Md just had an 18 pounder reported and fish upwards of 10 pounds are not uncommon anymore.
Containment will be difficult, I agree. The problem is that snakeheads follow the freshwater. They can tolerate low salinities and when there are periods of heavy rain, that dilutes the water enough for the snakeheads to move to different rivers/creeks, etc.
I never said that adult snakeheads don't guard their young, they do guard their young but they don't care for them. These are two different things. Once the fish are born, they fend for themselves for food and all, weak and smaller fish become young. When an animal has very few young, they will invest more time and energy into keeping them alive. When an animal has a lot of young, the energy is spent during the pregnancy and birth, it's a simple ecological principle. However, the adult snakeheads are looking out for number 1. They will eat when necessary and will fight to guard their nest when necessary. During either of these events, the juveniles are vulnerable and will be eaten. Bright orange looks tasty to any fish. And as I mentioned before, they are very cannibalistic at any age. I've found 5 inch snakeheads inside 11 inch snakeheasd and watched the juveniles eat each other.
The bottom line is that we just don't have the information necessary to firmly state the impact the snakeheads will have. They could become a destructive force which wipes out other fish completely (unlikely) or they could find a niche within the ecosystem and food web and co-exist with species already present (likely). Ecosystems as a whole have an ability to react to and rebound from a lot of different events, you'd be surprised.
The one in your last post, unforunately, isn't that large. Md just had an 18 pounder reported and fish upwards of 10 pounds are not uncommon anymore.
Containment will be difficult, I agree. The problem is that snakeheads follow the freshwater. They can tolerate low salinities and when there are periods of heavy rain, that dilutes the water enough for the snakeheads to move to different rivers/creeks, etc.
I never said that adult snakeheads don't guard their young, they do guard their young but they don't care for them. These are two different things. Once the fish are born, they fend for themselves for food and all, weak and smaller fish become young. When an animal has very few young, they will invest more time and energy into keeping them alive. When an animal has a lot of young, the energy is spent during the pregnancy and birth, it's a simple ecological principle. However, the adult snakeheads are looking out for number 1. They will eat when necessary and will fight to guard their nest when necessary. During either of these events, the juveniles are vulnerable and will be eaten. Bright orange looks tasty to any fish. And as I mentioned before, they are very cannibalistic at any age. I've found 5 inch snakeheads inside 11 inch snakeheasd and watched the juveniles eat each other.
The bottom line is that we just don't have the information necessary to firmly state the impact the snakeheads will have. They could become a destructive force which wipes out other fish completely (unlikely) or they could find a niche within the ecosystem and food web and co-exist with species already present (likely). Ecosystems as a whole have an ability to react to and rebound from a lot of different events, you'd be surprised.
