Fisheries officials in the USA are using genetic fingerprinting techniques to determine whether the non-native snakeheads found in the Potomac river recently are related.
According to the theWBALchannel.com, scientists at the Smithsonian Institution are using a molecular technique to analyse the DNA of five snakeheads caught in the Potomac this year to the DNA of two snakeheads found elsewhere in the USA last year.
The Northern snakeheads are a voracious predator and authorities are concerned that the fish are breeding and will damage the aquatic environment of US rivers if allowed to breed unchecked.