1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Territorial; keep alone or a pair.
This one is best kept on its own, or with its own kind.
Territorial; keep alone or a pair.
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 not named individually (described after the 2002 listing) but is covered by the genus-wide listing. 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 and fry.
A male and a female in a quiet tank.
200 L tank with caves and plants.
Warm temperature and live food.
Hundreds of eggs.
Fry take baby brine shrimp.
A small, very colourful snakehead described in 2007-2008 from Rakhine State, Myanmar: large black cheek spots, orange lips, banded pectoral fins and bluish-grey to red scales with black spots.
German ichthyologist Ralf Britz described this snakehead in 2008 from Myanmar. Its colourful fins have made it a collector's favourite.
First described by Ralf Britz in 2008. Named for 'Ornatipinnis' means ornate fins.
6 facts checked with sources
Described by Britz (2008, in a volume dated 2007). Aquarium Glaser (2018) reports that imported fish differed from the original description in lip colour (blue rather than yellow) until it obtained 'original yellow lips' fish from a new, undisclosed source, so trade fish may come from more than one population or form.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Channa species list (Channa ornatipinnis) · FishBase: Channa ornatipinnis summaryLegacy has no family. Order Anabantiformes.
FishBase: Channa ornatipinnis summaryFishBase 20.5 cm SL (type series); Glaser says about 20-25 cm. No Seriously Fish profile (404). Legacy 20 cm fits; live adults may reach ~25 cm TL. Wikipedia's 30.5 cm cites an old FishBase version.
FishBase: Channa ornatipinnis summary · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schäfer, 2018): Channa ornatipinnisIUCN: Data Deficient (2010).
FishBase: Channa ornatipinnis summary · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Channa species list (Channa ornatipinnis)Legacy story confirmed in substance; 'among the most colourful dwarf species' is opinion.
Aquarium Glaser (F. Schäfer, 2018): Channa ornatipinnis · FishBase: Channa ornatipinnis 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)