Dwarf snakehead
Dwarf snakehead is a term coined by aquarists to describe a group of Channa snakehead fishes growing to about maximum. They are found in freshwater habitats in South and Southeast Asia, and southern China.
The following snakeheads belong to this group:
- Channa andrao
- Channa aurantipectoralis
- Channa baramensis
- Channa bipuli
- Channa bleheri
- Channa brunnea
- Channa burmanica
- Channa coccinea = Channa sp. Ignis
- Channa gachua
- Channa harcourtbutleri
- Channa kelaartii
- Channa limbata
- Channa lipor
- Channa melanostigma
- Channa orientalis
- Channa ornatipinnis
- Channa panaw
- Channa pardalis
- Channa pulchra
- Channa pyrophthalmus = Channa sp. fire and ice.
- Channa quinquefasciata
- Channa rara
- Channa royi
- Channa rubora = Channa sp. Burmese red rim rainbow or Channa sp. redfin.
- Channa shingon
- Channa stewartii
- Channa stiktos
Several of these only recently received their scientific name, but were already known among aquarists before. Examples of this are C. andrao, C. pardalis, C. quinquefasciata, C. torsaensis, and C. brunnea. A few dwarf snakeheads that are known from the aquarium trade remain undescribed, including:
- Channa sp. Laos fireback.
- Channa sp. mulberry or Channa sp. morus.
Although several dwarf snakeheads are very close relatives, overall the group is not monophyletic. For example, the dwarfs C. burmanica and C. stewartii are phylogenetically much closer to the large C. barca than they are to the dwarfs C. ornatipinnis, C. pulchra and C. stiktos.