[3] It is an important food fish and one of the most cultivated in its native region, with an estimated 500 short tons (450 t) produced every year in China and Korea alone.

[4] Due to this, the northern snakehead has been exported throughout the world and has managed to establish non-native populations in Central Asia and North America.

[5] The distinguishing features of a northern snakehead include a long dorsal fin with 49–50 rays,[6] an anal fin with 31–32 rays, a small, anteriorly depressed head, the eyes above the middle part of the upper jaw, a large mouth extending well beyond the eye, and villiform teeth in bands, with large canines on the lower jaw and palatines.

Coloration is nearly the same between juveniles and adults, which is unusual among snakeheads, and is similar to Channa maculata, but can be distinguished by two bar-like marks on the caudal peduncle (where the tail attaches); in C. maculata, the rear bar is usually complete, with pale bar-like areas before and after, while in C. argus, the rear bar is irregular and blotched, with no pale areas around it.

[2] The eyespot bowfin (Amia ocellicauda) and northern snakehead can be found in the same waters on the swampy tidal coastal plain of the mid-Atlantic United States, such as the Potomac and Delaware River, and are commonly confused with each other.

[2] The preferred habitats of this species are stagnant water with mud substrate and aquatic vegetation, or slow, murky, swampy streams; it is primarily piscivorous, but is known to eat crustaceans, other invertebrates, and amphibians.

[16] The northern snakehead was considered a threat to the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and wary officials took action by draining the pond in an attempt to destroy the species.

By August 2008, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) had collected a number of the native fish, and then poisoned the waters with a liquid rotenone formulation.

After the poisoning, the NYSDEC had to identify, measure, and additionally process the fish to adhere with New York Bureau of Fisheries procedures before disposal.

[1] In April 2013, sightings of the species in Central Park's Harlem Meer prompted New York City officials to urge anglers to report and capture any individuals.

Ron P. Swegman, author of several angling essays on Central Park's ponds, confirmed the species had put both anglers and the State of New York's Department of Environmental Protection on high alert.

[23][24] On 1 June 2013, Caleb Newton, a resident of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, caught a 7.9 kg (17 lb 6 oz) northern snakehead from the junction of Aquia Creek and the Potomac River, beating the previous world record of 17 lb 4 oz (7.8 kg) caught in 2004, in Miki, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan.

[25] In late 2013, authorities in Maryland and Virginia were counting snakeheads in the Chesapeake Bay to better understand the impact of the introduction of the fish to the local ecosystem.

[7] On May 20, 2016, Emory "Dutch" Baldwin of Indian Head, Maryland, boated an 18.42 lb (8.36 kg) northern snakehead in a tidal marsh of the Potomac using archery tackle.

[35] Before its exact identity was revealed, the government of British Columbia introduced legislation banning the possession of snakeheads and several other potentially invasive species.

[35] According to the International Game Fish Association, Damien Cook, caught a world-record 9.53 kg (21 lb 0 oz) northern snakehead in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States, on 5 July 2023[7][36] Northern snakeheads are respected among some Chinese fishermen for their virtue, as parent snakefish are known to sacrifice themselves to protect their young.