1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Predator that takes any fish it can swallow; keep alone.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Predator that takes any fish it can swallow; keep alone. It can breathe air and may leave the water, so a tight lid is essential.
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. argus is named in the list. EU: on the list of invasive alien species of Union concern since 2022 (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1203), so it may not be brought into the EU, kept, bred, transported, sold, used or exchanged, or released. UK: Seriously Fish states it is illegal to import or own without an official licence. 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 pieces, prawns, earthworms and meaty pellets; may be fed 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 ·
Nest-guarder: the female builds a circular floating nest from clipped water plants and releases floating eggs on it; both parents guard the eggs and then the fry for several weeks. Not recorded in home aquaria; bred in large outdoor aquaculture in China.
Needs a large, mature pair; very hard in tanks.
Pond or very large tank (5,000 L+) with shallow plant cover.
Seasonal cooling and warm spring, high-protein feeding.
About 1,300-1,500 floating orange-yellow eggs per spawn, with up to five spawns a year (annual fecundity roughly 22,000-115,000). Eggs hatch in about 28 h at 31 °C, 45 h at 25 °C and 120 h at 18 °C.
Fry feed on live plankton, brine shrimp and small fish; both parents defend them aggressively.
A giant, cold-tolerant snakehead from China, Russia and Korea, used as a food fish. Released or escaped fish are established in Japan, the US (Potomac River and other waters), central Asia and parts of eastern Europe, where it is treated as a damaging invasive.
Theodore Cantor described the northern snakehead in 1842. It is an important food fish in East Asia but became an invasive species in parts of the USA.
First described by Theodore Cantor in 1842. Named for Named after Argus, the many-eyed giant of Greek myth, for its spots.
17 facts checked with sources
Valid name per FishBase and Seriously Fish (formerly Ophicephalus/Ophiocephalus argus). Sometimes confused with C. maculata (blotched snakehead), which has fewer fin rays and rounded blotches on the caudal peduncle.
FishBase: Channa argus summary · Seriously Fish: Channa argusLegacy has no family. Order Anabantiformes.
FishBase: Channa argus summaryFishBase 100 cm TL; Seriously Fish 85 cm SL (about the same fish once the tail is added). Larger figure kept; matches legacy 100 cm.
FishBase: Channa argus summary · Seriously Fish: Channa argusLegacy 4-26 °C sits inside Seriously Fish's 0-30 °C. A temperate species that survives under ice; it does not need tropical heating.
Seriously Fish: Channa argus · USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheet · FishBase: Channa argus summaryLegacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Channa argusSeriously Fish gives no base footprint ('not recorded'), only a minimum length of 2 m, so no litre figure can be computed. Legacy 1,500 L is not confirmed; in practice this is a public-aquarium or pond fish.
Seriously Fish: Channa argusSeriously Fish social rating: fine alone. Kept singly.
Seriously Fish: Channa argusSeriously Fish has no temperament rating; USGS describes a voracious, competitive predator.
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheet · Seriously Fish: Channa argusFishBase: ambush predator lying on the bottom. Legacy 'all levels' not supported. Needs surface access to breathe air.
FishBase: Channa argus summarySeriously Fish rates it Difficult because of tank size. Legacy 2 = moderate.
Seriously Fish: Channa argusLegacy has no range field (story says China, Korea and Russia). FishBase extends the native range south to the Xi Jiang and Hainan. IUCN: Least Concern (assessed 2020) per FishBase.
Seriously Fish: Channa argus · FishBase: Channa argus summaryLegacy 'builds a nest, both parents guard' confirmed.
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheet · Seriously Fish: Channa argusLegacy 'up to 10,000 eggs floating in a nest': one spawn is ~1,300-1,500 eggs; 10,000+ applies only to yearly fecundity.
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheetConfirmed; 'Europe' should read 'eastern Europe'.
Seriously Fish: Channa argus · FishBase: Channa argus summary · USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheetUS 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. EU listing per Regulation 2022/1203 (in force 20 days after publication, i.e. August 2022); restrictions per Regulation 1143/2014 Article 7 (Article 31 lets existing non-commercial pet owners keep animals they had before listing, under containment). UK statement is Seriously Fish's; the UK statute itself was not checked.
eCFR 50 CFR 16.13 (US injurious wildlife: fish) · USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species: Northern Snakehead (Channa argus) fact sheet · Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1203 (text via LawPlayer, from EUR-Lex) · Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 on invasive alien species, Article 7 (text via LawPlayer, from EUR-Lex) · Seriously Fish: Channa argusGiant species (85 cm SL / 100 cm TL). Also illegal to keep in the US, EU and (per Seriously Fish) UK.
Seriously Fish: Channa argus