Who’s eating who? Astonishing moment catfish hangs with its jaws around a snake’s head and another serpent clamped to its tail before it escapes from both attackers
- Catfish suspended in the air as one of the keelback snakes locks into jaws on tail
- Fish clamps mouth around the head of the snake at top after plucked from water
- Ghanshyam Prasad Bhanware captured the scene in Madhya Pradesh, India
A catfish was suspended in the air with its jaws around a snake’s head as two hungry serpents fought over their next meal in India.
Footage captured at Kanha National Park in the state of Madhya Pradesh shows the catfish clamp its jaws around the checkered keelback’s head as a second snake locks its jaw around the fish’s tail.
The fish continues to fight back as the two snakes keep hold of their bizarre position after tussling over their food.
Nature enthusiast Ghanshyam Prasad Bhanware, who was able to capture the scenes on July 19, said the reptiles fought over their lunch for 30 minutes before eventually giving up and retreating.
The catfish clamps its jaw around the keelback snake’s head as a second snake holds onto the fish’s tail at Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh, India
One serpent locks its jaw around the tail of the fish while the other snake finds its head locked in the mouth of the fish
During the clip, the catfish locks its jaw around the snake’s head after it is plucked from the water as a second snake clamps down on its tail.
Mr Bhanware said the first keelback had been lifting the fish out of the lake when a second keelback launched itself from the water and chomped on the tail.
He said: ‘That fish was strong-willed. My passion and hobby is to capture rare moments and seeing this was unbeatable. This was my first time to see a fish that dared to fight a snake.’
The photographer said the three creatures were stuck in the bizarre position for around 30 minutes before the snake holding the fish’s tail became tired and dropped back into the river.
The other snake then slithered away a few minutes later when the fish started wriggling around.
Mr Bhanware added: ‘The fish made it back into the water and both the snakes went without food. The fish swam away so I am certain it was still alive.’
The two serpents who had been tussling over the catfish hold the bizarre position for 30 minutes
The catfish clamps down on the head of the serpent after it is plucked from a stream in the Kanha National Park
The snake at the bottom clamps down on the tail of the fish as the catfish locks its jaw around the snake at the top
The checkered keelback, which is also commonly known as the Asiatic water snake, is a non-venomous serpent which is typically olive brown in colour with dark cross-bands.
The snakes reach between 50-75cm in length and can be found in creeks and swamps across Asia.
The serpent is most similar to the rough-scaled snake and will usually feed on frogs, fish and reptile eggs.