Channa harcourtbutleri

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Channa harcourtbutleri

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Osteichthyes
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Acanthopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Channidae
Genus:	Channa
Species:	*C. harcourtbutleri*

Binomial name

Channa harcourtbutleri
(Annandale, 1918)

Synonyms

Ophiocephalus harcourt-butleri Annandale, 1918
Channa harbourtbutleri (lapsus)

Channa harcourtbutleri is a species of snakehead endemic to Inle Lake^[1] and surroundings^[2] in Myanmar. Locally called nga ohn-ma, among aquarists it is known as one of the "dwarf snakeheads", but no significant import for aquarists is known. It is one of the smallest species of snakehead and has a length of 20 cm. The specific name honors Sir Harcourt Butler, a British governor in the region^[1].

This was for a long time considered to be a junior synonym of Channa gachua. In fact, both species closely resemble each other. The article on its revalidation^[3] only mentions 3 discriminating features like the missing ocellus in the dorsal fin of juvenile Channa harcourtbutleri. It is suspected to be a mouthbrooder and eats a wide range of foods including arthropods and small fish, but unlike in some relatives no frogs.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Annandale (1918)
^ Roberts (2007)
^ Ng et al. (1999)

[edit] References

Annandale, Nelson Theodore (1918): Fish and fisheries of the Inle Lake. Records of the Indian Museum 14(1): 33-64. HTML fulltext
Ng, H.H.; Ng, Peter K.L. & Britz, Ralf (1999): Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale, 1918): a valid species of snakehead (Perciformes: Channidae) from Myanmar. Journal of South Asian Natural History 4: 57-63. [HTML fulltext
Roberts, Tyson R. (2007): The "Celestial pearl danio", a new genus and species of colourful minute cyprinid fish from Myanmar (Pisces: Cypriniformes). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 55(1): 131-140. PDF fulltext