Family Channidae - Snakeheads
Order : Anabantiformes Channidae
Class : Teleostei
No. in FishBase : Genera : 2 | Species : 55 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes
Environment : Fresh : Yes | Brackish : Yes | Marine : Yes
Division : Primary freshwater
Aquarium : some
First Fossil Record :      
Remark : Distribution: tropical Africa (three species) and southern Asia. Elongate body; lower jaw protruding. Dorsal and anal fin bases long. Pelvic fins may be lacking in some; with 6 rays when present. No spines in fins. Scales ctenoid or cycloid. Airbreathing through suprabranchial organ. About 1.2 m maximum length. Important in aquaculture and commonly used in rice-fish farming. Some species are widely introduced. Number of species: 26 (Ref. 36343).
Etymology : Greek, channe, -es = anchovy ( Ref. 45335).
Reproductive guild : bearers and guarders
Typical activity level :
Main Ref. : Nelson, J.S. 1994
Coordinator :
Deep Fin Classification : Osteichthyes | Actinopterygii | Actinopteri | Neopterygii | Teleostei | Osteoglossocephalai | Clupeocephala | Euteleosteomorpha | Neoteleostei | Eurypterygia | Ctenosquamata | Acanthomorphata | Acanthopterygii | Percomorphaceae | Anabantaria | | | Anabantiformes | Channoidei | | Channidae

Show species images | Show valid names | Nominal species list | Identification keys | CAS specimen photos | References

Ref.
[ e.g. 9948 ]
Glossary
[ e.g. oophagy ]


Species/Synonymy list for the family Channidae as currently in FishBase

Important recommendation:

The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.

Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.

But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.

Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.

This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).

The list ordered as follows:

Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.

Show all | Show only accepted name | Show only accepted and original names
Scientifc name Status Senior/Junior synonym Combination
Channa orientalis Bloch & Schneider, 1801
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa gachua (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliednew
Ophiocephalus aurantiacus (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
! Channa gahua (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus marginatus (non Cuvier, 1829)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus coramota (non Cuvier, 1831)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus fusca (non Cuvier, 1831)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus limbatus (non Cuvier, 1831)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus montanus (non McClelland, 1842)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Philypnoides surakartensis (non Bleeker, 1849)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus apus (non Canestrini, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus gachua kelaarti (non Günther, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus kelaarti (non Günther, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus kelaartii (non Günther, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Ophiocephalus harcourtbutleri (non Annandale, 1918)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa burmanica (non Chaudhuri, 1919)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758)
acceptedseniornew
Gymnotus asiaticus Linnaeus, 1758
synonymseniororiginal
Channa ocellata Peters, 1864
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa sinensis Sauvage, 1880
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa formosana Jordan & Evermann, 1902
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa punctata (Bloch, 1793)
acceptedseniornew
Channa sp. Not applicable
ambiguousquestionableother
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa punctatus (Bloch, 1793)
synonymseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Ophicephalus karruwey Lacepède, 1801
synonymjuniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus karrouveri Lacepède, 1801
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus lata Hamilton, 1822
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophicephalus indicus McClelland, 1842
synonymjuniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus indicus McClelland, 1842
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus affinis Günther, 1861
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa striata (Bloch, 1793)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa stiata (Bloch, 1793)
synonymseniornew
! Channa striatus (Bloch, 1793)
synonymseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Ophiocephalus wrahl Lacepède, 1801
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus chena Hamilton, 1822
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus vagus Peters, 1868
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus sowarah (non Cuvier, 1831)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa maculata (Lacepède, 1801)
acceptedseniornew
Bostrychus maculatus Lacepède, 1801
synonymseniororiginal
Ophiocephalus maculatus (Lacepède, 1801)
synonymseniornew
Channa striata (non Bloch, 1793)
misappliedmisappliednew
Channa barca (Hamilton, 1822)
acceptedseniornew
Ophiocephalus barca Hamilton, 1822
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus amphibius (non McClelland, 1845)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa gachua (Hamilton, 1822)
acceptedseniornew
Ophicephalus gachua Hamilton, 1822
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa gachus (Hamilton, 1822)
synonymseniornew
! Ophiocephalus gachua Hamilton, 1822
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus auranticus Hamilton, 1822
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa limbata (Cuvier, 1831)
synonymjuniornew
! Ophiocephalus apus Canestrini, 1861
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophicephalus apus Canestrini, 1861
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa marulius (Hamilton, 1822)
acceptedseniornew
Ophicephalus marulius Hamilton, 1822
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa marulia (Hamilton, 1822)
synonymseniornew
! Ophiocephalus marulius Hamilton, 1822
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophicephalus sowara Cuvier, 1831
synonymjuniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus sowarah Cuvier, 1831
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus theophrasti Valenciennes, 1840
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus pseudomarulius (non Günther, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedmisapplied
Channa lucius (Cuvier, 1831)
acceptedseniornew
Ophicephalus lucius Cuvier, 1831
synonymseniororiginal
Channa lucia (Cuvier, 1831)
synonymseniornew
! Ophiocephalus lucius Cuvier, 1831
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa siamensis (Günther, 1861)
synonymjuniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus bistriatus Weber & de Beaufort, 1922
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa micropeltes (Cuvier, 1831)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa diplogramme (non Day, 1865)
misappliedmisappliednew
Channa argus (Cantor, 1842)
acceptedseniornew
Ophicephalus argus Cantor, 1842
synonymseniororiginal
Channa argus argus (Cantor, 1842)
synonymseniornew
Ophicephalus argus (Cantor, 1842)
synonymseniornew
! Channa arga (Cantor, 1842)
synonymseniornew
! Ophiocephalus argus (Cantor, 1842)
synonymseniornew
Ophicephalus pekinensis Basilewsky, 1855
synonymjuniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus pekinensis Basilewsky, 1855
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
synonymjuniornew
synonymjuniorchange in rank
synonymjuniorchange in rank
Channa amphibeus (McClelland, 1845)
acceptedseniornew
Ophiocephalus amphibeus McClelland, 1845
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa amphibia (McClelland, 1845)
synonymseniornew
! Channa amphibius (McClelland, 1845)
synonymseniornew
! Ophiocephalus amphibius McClelland, 1845
synonymseniororiginal
Channa barca (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliednew
Ophiocephalus barca (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa marulioides (Bleeker, 1851)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
synonymseniororiginal
Channa melasoma (Bleeker, 1851)
acceptedseniornew
Ophicephalus melasoma Bleeker, 1851
synonymseniororiginal
! Ophiocephalus melanosoma Bleeker, 1851
synonymseniorother
! Ophiocephalus melasoma Bleeker, 1851
synonymseniororiginal
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophicephalus mystax Bleeker, 1853
synonymjuniororiginal
Ophiocephalus baramensis (non Steindachner, 1901)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa pleurophthalma (Bleeker, 1851)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa pleurophthalmus (Bleeker, 1851)
synonymseniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
ambiguousquestionableoriginal
Channa bankanensis (Bleeker, 1853)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa cyanospilos (Bleeker, 1853)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa melanoptera (Bleeker, 1855)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa melanopterus (Bleeker, 1855)
synonymseniornew
! Channa melnopterus (Bleeker, 1855)
synonymseniornew
Channa kelaartii (Günther, 1861)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa pseudomarulius (Günther, 1861)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa diplogramma (Day, 1865)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa diplogramme (Day, 1865)
synonymseniornew
Channa stewartii (Playfair, 1867)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
! Channa stewartius (Playfair, 1867)
synonymseniornew
Channa aurolineata (Day, 1870)
provisionally acceptedjuniornew
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa baramensis (Steindachner, 1901)
acceptedseniornew
Ophiocephalus baramensis Steindachner, 1901
synonymseniororiginal
Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale, 1918)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa royi Praveenraj & Knight, 2018
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa orientalis (non Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Channa burmanica Chaudhuri, 1919
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa ara (Deraniyagala, 1945)
acceptedseniorchange in rank
! Ophiocephalus marulius ara Deraniyagala, 1945
synonymseniororiginal
Channa marulius ara (Deraniyagala, 1945)
synonymseniornew
Ophicephalus marulius ara Deraniyagala, 1945
synonymseniororiginal
Channa marulius (non Hamilton, 1822)
misappliedmisappliednew
Channa bleheri Vierke, 1991
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa panaw Musikasinthorn, 1998
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa aurantimaculata Musikasinthorn, 2000
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa nox Zhang, Musikasinthorn & Watanabe, 2002
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa pulchra Britz, 2007
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa hoaluensis Nguyen, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa melanostigma Geetakumari & Vishwanath, 2011
acceptedseniororiginal
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa longistomata Nguyen, Nguyen & Nguyen, 2012
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa andrao Britz, 2013
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa aurantipectoralis Lalhlimpuia, Lalronunga & Lalramliana, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa pardalis Knight, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa pomanensis Gurumayum & Tamang, 2016
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa shingon Endruweit, 2017
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa bipuli Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan & Bleher, 2018
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa quinquefasciata Praveenraj, Uma, Knight, Moulitharan, Balasubramanian, Bineesh & Bleher, 2018
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa torsaensis Dey, Nur, Chowdhury, Sarkar, Kosygin & Barat, 2019
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa stiktos Lalramliana, Knight, Lalhlimpuia & Singh, 2018
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa brunnea Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan & Kannan, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa amari Dey, Chowdhury, Nur, Sarkar, Kosygin & Barat, 2019
synonymjuniororiginal
Channa rara Britz, Dahanukar, Anoop & Ali, 2019
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa aristonei Praveenraj, Thackeray, Singh, Uma, Moulitharan & Mukhim, 2020
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa coccinea Britz, Tan & Rüber, 2024
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa pyrophthalmus Britz, Tan & Rüber, 2024
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa rakhinica Britz, Tan & Rüber, 2024
acceptedseniororiginal
Channa rubora Britz, Tan & Rüber, 2024
acceptedseniororiginal
Parachanna obscura (Günther, 1861)
acceptedseniornew
Ophiocephalus obscurus Günther, 1861
synonymseniororiginal
Channa obscura (Günther, 1861)
synonymseniornew
Channa obscurus (Günther, 1861)
synonymseniornew
Ophicephalus obscurus (Günther, 1861)
synonymseniornew
Paraphiocephalus obscurus (Günther, 1861)
synonymseniornew
Parophiocephalus obscurus (Günther, 1861)
synonymseniornew
Parachanna africana (Steindachner, 1879)
acceptedseniornew
Ophiocephalus africanus Steindachner, 1879
synonymseniororiginal
Channa africana (Steindachner, 1879)
synonymseniornew
Parophiocephalus africanus (Steindachner, 1879)
synonymseniornew
Ophiocephalus obscurus (non Günther, 1861)
misappliedmisappliedoriginal
Parachanna insignis (Sauvage, 1884)
acceptedseniornew
synonymseniororiginal
Channa insignis (Sauvage, 1884)
synonymseniornew
synonymseniornew
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