Giant snakehead

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Giant Snakehead

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Channidae
Genus:	Channa
Species:	C. micropeltes

Binomial name

Channa micropeltes
(Cuvier, 1831)

9cm long juvenile giant snakehead in comparison to a 18.5mm coin

2cm long giant snakehead fry. It reddish color when young explains why the giant snakehead is also known as the red snakehead.

1 Biology
2 Channa micropeltes as food fish
3 Channa micropeltes as an invasive species
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biology

The Giant snakehead is the largest in the Channidae family, capable of growing over 50 inches. It is widely distributed in the freshwater of South East Asia and some regions of India. The scientific name of the giant snakehead is Channa micropeltes, and other names include Red snakehead and Ikan toman (where ikan is Malay for fish).

The young of the Giant snakehead is red in color, with orange and black lateral stripes appearing after about two months. As the giant snakehead matures, they lose their stripes and instead develops a bluish black and white pattern on their upper body.

Being a high level predator means that the Giant snakehead eats many other fishes, amphibians and even small birds, but is not preyed upon by many other species. The Giant snakehead is considered gregarious, with the young often following closely to their mother. There have been reports of protective mother Giant snakehead attacking men who have disturbed the snakehead's school of juveniles.

[edit] Channa micropeltes as food fish

In Singapore, where the giant snakehead is known as the toman, they are cultured in fish ponds and reservoir as game fish because they put up a strong fight when hooked. The giant snakehead is also a good food fish, and is often served in Chinese restaurants. Some people, however, dislike the muddy taste associated with freshwater fish.

[edit] Channa micropeltes as an invasive species

In 2003, a giant snakehead was caught in Rock River, Wisconsin. ^[1] This is one of few reports of giant snakeheads caught in the United States. However, unlike its relative, the Northern snakehead, the Giant snakehead is unlikely to proliferate and remain a permanent alien because it prefers the warmer temperatures of 25 to 28 Celsius.