Spawn of Snakehead?

The snakehead, Schwaab said, also has "a lot more personality than many of the other creatures we deal with."

The fish is illegal to possess in 13 states, but not in Maryland, Virginia or the District.

When the adult fish was caught last week, state officials were concerned but limited their response to setting a few traps. At the time, they said they would probably wait until fall, when the vegetation would die back from the weed-covered pond, to try to net any fish. With the discovery of the babies, however, more immediate action may be necessary.

The most likely options are to use electroshock in the lake, set off a net of explosive cord or poison the pond with retenone, a pesticide, officials said.

Fish history is rife with cautionary tales of species introductions that have had devastating impacts on the environment.

California has spent millions in its war against the pike, a nonnative fish that was smuggled into Lake Davis in the 1990s and that threatens to wipe out a $1 billion trout industry.

Five years ago, state game officials drained most of the lake and dumped in several tons of poison in an effort to kill the fish.

The pike returned within a year, and the state ended up paying nearly $10 million in damages to a nearby town whose water supply was contaminated.

Yesterday, any snakeheads in Crofton Pond were lying low, sparing themselves more immediate fates.

One person in pursuit of them was Chad Williams, 17. Shirtless and swathed in a blue head scarf like some teenage tribesman, Williams offered the fugitive fish a grim choice: the net or the multipronged spear he was carrying.

There were also five members of the football team from Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn. Bent, they said, on fame and cash, they bore nets and waders and promised the underwater threat an awful fate on eBay.

Then came Les Glick, 53, who was thinking about bringing his spearfishing gear, until he saw Crofton Pond.

It is a muddy, malodorous body of water with low oxygen levels; clots of duckweed and lily pads; shoreline oil slicks; bleached, floating beer cans; and squadrons of hovering dragonflies. There are also snakes, and the bottom consists of "a good several feet worth of decaying organic stuff," one official said.

Glick brought two fishing rods instead.