Snake are famous for being capable to get their jaw around just about anything , fromeggsto bird and evencentipedes . However , one ophidian in France bite off much more than it could masticate , and that might be just the beginning of the story .

Two extraordinary images catch by herpetologist Nicolas Fuento show a viperine Hydra ( Natrix maura ) with a species of Pisces squall a ruffe ( Gymnocephalus cernua ) deposit in its throat . The meeting occur at the Lac de Carcès in southeasterly France .

While you might think the snake was just ill-omened in take the wrong fish dinner , the reality is a little more complicated . Viperine snakes typically feast on small Pisces the Fishes species . This ruffe is a metal money aboriginal to large portion of Europe and Asia , including France . However , it isinvasive , spread by human - made canals or get off from bait bucket used by anglers . The team believe that this was a failed predation endeavour by the snake on an invasive coinage .

![Snake with its mouth open wide with the tail end of a fish sticking out. Grey rocks and the rest of the snake in the background.](https://assets.iflscience.com/assets/articleNo/70776/iImg/70822/ruffle and snake.jpg)

The dorsal spines of the fish prevented the snake from swallowing.Image courtesy of Nicolas Fuento

The snake attempted to expel the Pisces the Fishes from its oesophagus for several minutes until Fuento removed it . The fish had perish , but the snake seem to be fine and be active aside into the undergrowth . The dorsal spines from the fish had lodged in the upper part of the wall of the esophagus .

The two co - authors indite in the discipline , “ Although in several cases snakes can exist injuries make by fish spines , we can not confirm that in this suit the snake would have survived without our aid . ”

The researchers suggest that instances of fish - eating snakes preying on incursive Pisces coinage are becoming more widespread , and it ’s hump that they can leave in the death of the ophidian . Pisces the Fishes - consume species being killed by their prey accounts for 26 percent of snake mortality , but trespassing species submit a newfangled , real scourge to the survival of the fittest of native fish - eat up snake species .

The fish after removal from the snake’s mouth. Dorsal spines visible and held by fingers. Grey rock background.

The ruffe did not survive the ordeal.Image courtesy of Nicolas Fuento

The work is issue inHerpetology Notes .