The northern snakehead ( Channa argus) has a most unusual ability: It can breathe outside of the water, as well as within. Juveniles can also wriggle their long, narrow bodies onto land, enabling them to travel from one pond or stream to another if needed.

Ralf and his colleagues were able to formally describe it as not only a new species, but the first known subterranean snakehead. A few weeks later, a second species of underground snakehead from southern India has also been described. These fish have nocturnal, social behavior. They live in small groups, known as schools, and members have a specific dominance hierarchy. It isn’t uncommon to see them chasing one another and biting. Schools also hunt together, swimming in shallow water with lots of reeds and underwater plants. People smuggling is a grim business. Migrants and asylum seekers are invariably desperate and willing to risk everything for the possibility of a better life, something that often gets lost in debates about immigration, certainly here in the UK.

Distribution of the Snakehead

Native to India, the Spotted is a common species inhabiting an extensive range of habitats, from mild temperate to tropical. Because of this range, this species is reported to tolerate a very broad range of temperatures from 9-40°C/48-104°F. Snakeheads are fairly undemanding as regards tank décor. They are not active swimmers and, when not feeding, tend to move only when surfacing for air. They spend a lot of time hovering in midwater or resting on the bottom within cover as ambush predators. Ample hiding spaces in the form of driftwood and submerged vegetation should therefore be provided. Surface cover, created by floating plants, is also recommended. A formidably well-researched book that is as much a paean to its author’s industriousness as it is a chronicle of crime.”

Experiments have also shown that it can tolerate a large pH range, so water conditions are not too important as long as extremes are avoided. A relatively small species that reaches to 30cm/12”, the Spotted snakehead is nevertheless aggressive enough for only large, robust tank mates to be considered.Wang, Peng (2013). "The Increasing Threat of Chinese Organised Crime: national, regional and international perspectives". The RUSI Journal. 158 (4): 6–18. doi: 10.1080/03071847.2013.826492. S2CID 154487430. Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown, complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it’s all true.” The Snakehead is a gangland saga, but Keefe, a Yale-trained lawyer, deftly interweaves the political, legal and gunslinging strands of Sister Ping's story, rendering scenes of White House policy deliberation and immigration court procedure as engagingly as scenes of Chinatown shootouts and high-seas rendezvous between smuggling ships. Moreover, he doesn't shirk journalistic responsibility; with the U.S. government's ineptitude neatly enabling Sister Ping's criminal callousness, the author is fair in his indictments of both American policy and snakehead practice.

As his account makes clear, the promises that Sister Ping made were brutal and sometimes fatal, but they were not empty. The stinking hold of the cargo ship represented a better possibility than other futures. At a time when our newspapers are full of stories of people smuggling, this book is a reminder of the element of that tale that is too easily overlooked: the absolute determination of the people who temporarily sell their fate to the criminal gangs. As Radden Keefe’s book implies, those people will ultimately not be deterred by legislation or law enforcement. Sister Ping was a facilitator, not a driver of that ambition. Her “clients” were among the most resourceful individuals on the planet. Most of those people originally deported after the Golden Venture tragedy, writes Radden Keefe, eventually found a way to return to New York.Also known as the Orange-spotted snakehead, the Golden cobra reaches about 40cm/16”. This is a relatively aggressive fish that’s best kept alone. Snakeheads ( Chinese: 蛇头; pinyin: shé tóu ; Hokkien: chôa-thâu) are Chinese gangs that smuggle people to other countries. They are found in the Fujian region of China and smuggle their customers into wealthier Western countries such as those in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and some nearby wealthier regions such as Taiwan and Japan.