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The elusive snakehead fish that has been lurking in Burnaby’s Central Lake pond was caught on Friday, according to Ministry of Environment officials.

The workers showed the anesthetized fish to onlookers shortly after its capture in a hand net.

An invasive species here, snakeheads are native to Asia and Africa, where they are a prized delicacy.

The half-metre-long specimen caught in the Burnaby pond appeared to be the same one spotted by park-goers last month, spurring the capture effort so it wouldn’t consume native species.

A top-level predator, the snakehead can slither from pond to pond using its rudimentary lung to breathe air. While on land snakehead fish have been known to prey on small mammals.

More to come.