1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Aggressive predator; keep alone.
55 species in our list are a good match.
Aggressive predator; keep alone.
Check your local laws. US: all live snakeheads (genera Channa and Parachanna, family Channidae) and their viable eggs are injurious wildlife under the Lacey Act (listed 4 Oct 2002, 50 CFR 16.13); importation into the US and interstate transportation or acquisition are prohibited without a USFWS permit. It is named in the list. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Fish, prawns and large pellets.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Females are plumper and larger than males.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-guarder ·
Rarely bred. The pair circles and embraces among floating plants, scattering eggs in the surface vegetation; both parents guard the eggs. The female is said to feed the fry with infertile eggs. Remove the young after 6-8 weeks before the parents eat them. Some reports describe cave spawning.
A pair in a large tank.
1,000 L tank with plants and caves.
Warm water and heavy feeding.
Up to about 500 eggs scattered among surface plants; they hatch in about 24 hours and the fry swim freely about 3 days later.
Fry feed on baby brine shrimp.
The most commonly seen African snakehead, from western and central Africa, with five to eight dark rounded or polygonal blotches along the flanks. A useful food fish in its range and a strict predator in the aquarium.
Albert Günther described this African snakehead in 1861. It belongs to Parachanna, the African snakehead genus, and is kept as a large predatory oddball.
First described by Albert Günther in 1861. Named for 'Obscura' means dark.
17 facts checked with sources
Originally Ophiocephalus obscurus. Hard to tell from P. insignis (rarely imported) and P. africana, so trade 'African snakeheads' may be either.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Parachanna species list (Parachanna obscura) · FishBase: Parachanna obscura summary · Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraLegacy has no family. Order Anabantiformes.
FishBase: Parachanna obscura summaryFishBase 50 cm SL (it also notes a maximum TL of 45.5 cm elsewhere); Seriously Fish 40.6 cm SL. Larger figure kept; matches legacy.
FishBase: Parachanna obscura summary · Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraSeriously Fish 26-30 °C, FishBase 26-28 °C; legacy minimum 22 °C is too cool.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscura · FishBase: Parachanna obscura summaryLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraSeriously Fish's tank figure is garbled (a 38 x 38 cm base, ~55 L, next to a stray '48"'), impossible for a 40 cm fish, so no litre figure is given. Legacy 1,000 L not confirmed.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraFishBase: demersal. Legacy 'all levels' not supported. Obligate air-breather: needs constant access to the surface and a tight lid with an air gap.
FishBase: Parachanna obscura summaryLegacy 'females fuller-bodied' fits; 'males more colourful with longer dorsal' not supported.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraLegacy 'nest-guarder' broadly confirmed (both parents guard eggs among surface plants).
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraLegacy 'hundreds of eggs' made specific.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscuraLegacy 'stripes' corrected to blotches. 'Rarer than its Asian relatives' in the trade not checked.
Seriously Fish: Parachanna obscura · FishBase: Parachanna obscura summaryUS rule cited from the current eCFR text (amended 67 FR 62203, 4 Oct 2002). Many US states also ban possession; state rules, EU, UK, Canada and Australia were not checked for this species.
eCFR 50 CFR 16.13 (US injurious wildlife: fish)