1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Territorial; keep alone or a pair; avoid small tankmates.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Territorial; keep alone or a pair; avoid small tankmates.
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.
Frozen foods, worms and small fish.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-guarder · Hard
Parents guard the eggs.
A male and female in a quiet tank.
150 L tank with caves and plants.
Warm water and live food.
50-200 eggs.
Fry take baby brine shrimp.
One of the smaller snakeheads (usually 8-15 cm SL in aquaria, up to about 19 cm SL), first described from Inle Lake in Myanmar's Shan highlands but now known from several river basins in Myanmar, China, Vietnam and India. Very rarely imported.
Nelson Annandale described this small snakehead in 1918 during his survey of Inle Lake. It is a dwarf species popular with snakehead keepers.
First described by Nelson Annandale in 1918. Named for Named after Sir Harcourt Butler, Lieutenant-Governor of Burma.
9 facts checked with sources
Originally Ophiocephalus harcourt-butleri; long treated as a synonym of C. orientalis/C. gachua until revalidated by Ng, Ng & Britz (1999). Closely resembles C. gachua, so trade fish labelled 'harcourtbutleri' or 'Inle snakehead' may be misidentified gachua-group fish. FishBase common name: Burmese snakehead. No Seriously Fish profile (404).
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Channa species list (Channa harcourtbutleri) · FishBase: Channa harcourtbutleri summaryLegacy has no family. Order Anabantiformes.
FishBase: Channa harcourtbutleri summarysize-pick: aquarium fish are usually 8-15 cm SL (B-Aqua), legacy 15 cm kept. Largest known 18.5 cm SL (B-Aqua) / 19.4 cm SL (FishBase); FishBase's headline 25 cm SL is a single record far above other figures.
B-Aqua (French aquarium reference): Channa harcourtbutleri · FishBase: Channa harcourtbutleri summaryNo numeric range found. B-Aqua advises against keeping it at high tropical temperatures all year (a highland species). Legacy 18-26 °C not confirmed.
B-Aqua (French aquarium reference): Channa harcourtbutleriNo numeric range; B-Aqua says avoid very soft, acidic water, consistent with legacy 6.5-8.0 but not a confirmation.
B-Aqua (French aquarium reference): Channa harcourtbutleriLegacy story says Lake Inle only; Wikipedia's 'endemic to Inle Lake' is out of date. IUCN: Near Threatened (2011).
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Channa species list (Channa harcourtbutleri) · FishBase: Channa harcourtbutleri summaryOnly Wikipedia (no primary citation for this sentence) says it is suspected to be a mouthbrooder; legacy 'parents guard the eggs' unconfirmed.
Wikipedia: Channa harcourtbutleri'Tiny' and 'Lake Inle only' corrected. 'Jewel-like pattern' not supported: FishBase describes a black to purplish-black back with a grey, spotted belly.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Channa species list (Channa harcourtbutleri) · B-Aqua (French aquarium reference): Channa harcourtbutleri · Wikipedia: Channa harcourtbutleriUS 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)