Huge snake-headed fish are invading rivers and they can slither onto land

A ginormous species fish seem to be making a home for themselves in Missouri.

Called the northern snakehead fish, the marine life are said to be native to China, southern Siberia, and North Korea, but have recently made their way over to US waters.

As per its name, the large fish boasts a snake-like head and could only be described as looking like something straight out of a nightmare.

Snakeheads can grow to be as long as 3ft. (SDA via Getty Images)

North snakehead fish can grow to be 3ft long and 19lb in weight, but it's not just its unusual appearance and large hefty size that makes it so unique - north snakehead fish can actually breathe in an out of water.

Not only can they breathe out of water, they're able to travel too and will often hop on land to get between different bodies of water.

As to how it breathes out of water, the animals have 'a special chamber adjacent to its gills called a suprabranchial organ'.

"This allows the animal to absorb oxygen directly from air by gulping it in through its mouth," National Geographic explains.

With the help of its unique organ, the fish are able to survive out of water for up to four days.

The unusual fish have snake-like heads. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While they typically hail from countries like China, north snakeheads have been spotted in the US - Missouri specifically.

Last month, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) confirmed that a fourth north snakehead sighting had been recorded.

The fish was caught by an angler May 25 below Wappapello Lake Spillway in Wayne County, the authority reported.

Speaking on the matter, MDC Fisheries Biologist Dave Knuth said: "The angler recognized they had something different and researched the fish’s characteristics, and realized it was indeed a snakehead.

"The angler left it on the pavement for several hours thinking it would die, and it never did."

A snakehead was found in a Missouri river last month. (MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION)

Once reported, the large fish was the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) office.

The MDC further noted that 'it is illegal to import, export, sell, purchase, or possess a live northern snakehead in Missouri' and that it will continue monitor the situation.

North snakeheads are described as 'aggressive predators', but they aren't thought to pose a risk to humans.

The predators may eliminate other fishes in the waters they invade, and have only been known to bite humans who get to close to a guarded nest.

While they've only been spotted in Missouri's rivers more recently, the north snakehead species were found in Maryland and North Carolina as early as 2002. They've since spread to several different parts of the country.