"These fish are like something from a bad horror movie," Norton told reporters as she announced a department proposal to prohibit the import or sale across state lines of 28 species of the snakehead.

Norton warned that snakeheads can eat almost any small animal in its path and reproduce quickly.

"They have the potential to cause enormous damage to our valuable recreational and commercial fisheries. We must do everything we can to prevent them from entering our waters, either accidentally or intentionally," she said.

They have even attacked people in China who got too close to snakeheads' egg nesting areas, Norton said. They are also native to Africa.

The fish's natural habitat is in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers in Asia and Africa.

Thankfully, they have natural predators: smaller snakeheads are eaten by bigger fish, while the full-grown, 3-foot (one metre) snakehead is consumed by crocodiles and alligators.

BOUGHT TO MAKE SOUP!

Snakeheads have been found in seven states: Hawaii, Florida, California, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, according to the Interior Department. Thirteen states prohibit possession of live snakeheads.

The fish gained notoriety this summer after several snakeheads were found in a Maryland pond. The so-called Frankenfish were dumped there by a local resident who had bought them to make soup for a sick relative.

Maryland officials are considering poisoning the small lake where at least 80 baby snakeheads have been found.

The fish has primarily been imported to the United States by seafood sellers and aquarium shops.

Snakeheads are sold in live food fish markets and some restaurants in Boston and New York, where they are legal. The fish have also been sold through some aquarium fish retailers over the Internet.

All such sales would end under the department proposal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs inspectors would be able to seize shipments of live snakeheads and their eggs.

Those caught transporting snakeheads could face up to six months in prison and fines as high as $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations.

An exception would be made for scientific, educational or zoological purposes.