1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Highly aggressive; parents defend young fiercely and have injured people.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Highly aggressive; parents defend young fiercely and have injured people. Keep alone with an extremely secure lid.
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. C. micropeltes is named in the list. EU: not checked for this species; Channa argus is the only snakehead in the 2022 additions to the EU invasive-species list. Check the rules where you live before you buy one, and never release it into the wild.
Not for home aquariums. This fish grows far too big for any home tank. It needs a pond-sized system of thousands of litres, so please don't buy one as a baby.
Fish, prawns, earthworms and pellets.
Tap a food to see what it is.
No reliable external way to sex this species is known.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-guarder ·
Parental pair-spawner: pairs form in flooded areas or small vegetated streams at the start of the wet season and clear a patch of vegetation; the eggs float at the surface. Both parents guard eggs and fry fiercely for an extended period. Captive breeding has been achieved but needs enormous space; matures at about 2 years and 50-60 cm.
Mature pair in a very large pond.
Pond or a 4,000 L+ tank.
Warm conditions and heavy feeding.
Thousands of eggs.
Fry feed on plankton and small live food; parents guard them aggressively.
A giant Southeast Asian snakehead sold as juveniles with two black stripes and a bright orange band between them ('red' or 'redline' snakehead). Adults lose the orange and show one broad dark stripe, and can exceed 1 m (to 130 cm SL).
Georges Cuvier described this giant snakehead in 1831. Its brightly striped red juveniles are often sold to aquarists, but the adults become very large predators.
First described by Georges Cuvier in 1831.
17 facts checked with sources
Valid name. Indian fish once called C. micropeltes are C. diplogramma (FishBase: 'Material from India usually referred to as this species actually represents a distinct species'). Juveniles are sold as 'red' or 'redline' snakehead.
FishBase: Channa micropeltes summary · Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesLegacy has no family. Order Anabantiformes.
FishBase: Channa micropeltes summarySeriously Fish and FishBase both give 130 cm SL (maximum); FishBase common length 50 cm SL; Courtenay & Williams 'to 1 m'. Legacy 'about 1 m' is reasonable for big adults; 130 cm SL is the documented maximum. Matures at about 50-60 cm (Seriously Fish). (Courtenay & Williams quote taken from the PDF text with line-break artefacts removed.)
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes · FishBase: Channa micropeltes summary · Courtenay & Williams (2004) Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): a biological synopsis and risk assessment, USGS Circular 1251Legacy 22-28 °C inside Seriously Fish's 20-30 °C.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes · FishBase: Channa micropeltes summaryInside 6.0-8.0.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesNo footprint given ('not recorded'). Legacy 4,000 L not confirmed by a source.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesOpen-water swimmer, midwater to surface; mapped to 'middle'. Judgment call. (Courtenay & Williams quote taken from the PDF text with line-break artefacts removed.)
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes · Courtenay & Williams (2004) Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): a biological synopsis and risk assessment, USGS Circular 1251Seriously Fish's algorithm gives Moderate, but space demand is 'very large tank' (see traits.homeAquarium).
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesLegacy has no range. Released aquarium fish have turned up in several US states but are not established (Seriously Fish). IUCN: Least Concern (2019) per FishBase.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes · FishBase: Channa micropeltes summaryLegacy generic sexing tips not supported.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesLegacy 'nest-guarder; both parents defend the young' broadly confirmed; whether a true nest is built is uncertain. (Courtenay & Williams quote taken from the PDF text with line-break artefacts removed.)
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes · Courtenay & Williams (2004) Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): a biological synopsis and risk assessment, USGS Circular 1251Core claims confirmed. 'Grey-green within months' not sourced (adult pattern is a broad dark stripe); max size is above 1 m.
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltesUS rule cited from the current eCFR text (amended 67 FR 62203, 4 Oct 2002). Many US states also ban possession; state rules, Canada beyond Ontario, and Australia were not checked here. The EU list check is limited to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1203, which added only C. argus among snakeheads; the full current consolidated list was not fetched. UK and other national rules not checked for this species.
eCFR 50 CFR 16.13 (US injurious wildlife: fish) · USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheetGiant species (to 130 cm SL).
Seriously Fish: Channa micropeltes