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Bony fish · Perciformes · Channidae

Snakehead Murrel

Channa striata

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.

Spotted something wrong?

Channa striata is a snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead and striped snakehead. It is native to South and South-East Asia, and has been introduced onto some Pacific islands.

Weight

up to 3 kg

Size

up to 1 m

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Freshwater
16countries18parks

Fun facts

  • It is an obligate air breather and survives the dry season buried in the mud, living off its fat reserves as long as its skin and breathing apparatus stay damp.
  • The male guards the shoal of fry, which stays just below the surface.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)
Habitat and environment
Swamps, flooded paddy fields, canals and slow rivers of turbid, stagnant water in South and South-East Asia, between 1 and 10 m and mostly between 1 and 2 m
Sexual maturity
Length at first maturity 18 cm

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channa_striata

Where to find it

See its range on the interactive map→
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The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.

Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 10 of 18.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Snakehead Murrel — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

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Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about snakehead murrel.

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See full glossary
This page in other languages: Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano
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WilpattuSri Lanka
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CountriesIndia
ParksChitwan National ParkNepal
TagsCarnivore
Carnivore
Fish
Freshwater
India
Myanmar
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Brunei
Cambodia
China
India
Indonesia
Laos
Malaysia
Myanmar
Nepal
Pakistan
Philippines
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Vietnam