Channa

Channa is a genus of the Channidae family of snakehead fishes. This genus contains about 29 species, but the most well known are probably northern snakehead (Channa argus) and the giant snakehead (Channa micropeltes). Channa has a wide natural distribution extending from Iran in the West, to China in the East, and parts of Siberia in the Far East. They are one of the most common staple food fish in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other South East Asian countries where they are extensively cultured. Apart from their importance as a food fish, snakeheads are also consumed as a therapeutic for wound healing as well as reducing post-operative pain and discomfort, and collected for the international aquarium pet trade. The diets of various species of Channa include fish, frogs, snakes, rodents, birds, and insects. Some can move on land like snakes, and breathe air.
The taxonomy of the genus Channa is incomplete and a comprehensive revision of the family has not been performed. A phylogenetic study in 2010 [1] has also indicated the likelihood of the existence of more undescribed species of channids in South East Asia, In June 2011 the Malabar snakehead Channa diplogramma from the Peninsular India has been shown to be a distinct species, 146 years after its initial description and 134 years after it was synonymised with C. micropeltes, establishing it is an endemic species of peninsular, the study also suggested that the species shared a most recent common ancestor with C. micropeltes, around 9.52 to 21.76 MYA [2]. The most plausible scenario for the evolution of channids would be a vicariant divergence after the Gondwanaland split-up, of the genus Parachanna (the second genus of Channidae, endemic to Africa) into Africa and the genus Channa into Eurasia [2,3].

In Assamese it is called Goroi. In Malayalam it is called Varal.

Species

-  Channa amphibeus - Borna snakehead
-  Channa argus - Northern snakehead
-  Channa asiatica
-  Channa aurantimaculata
-  Channa bankanensis
-  Channa barca - Barca snakehead
-  Channa bleheri - Rainbow snakehead
-  Channa cyanospilos
-  Channa gachua - Dwarf snakehead
-  Channa harcourtbutleri
-  Channa lucius
-  Channa maculata
-  Channa marulioides
-  Channa marulius - Great snakehead
-  Channa melanopterus
-  Channa melasoma - Black snakehead
-  Channa micropeltes - Giant snakehead, red snakehead
-  Channa diplogramma - Malabar snakehead
-  Channa nox
-  Channa orientalis - smooth-breasted snakehead
-  Channa panaw
-  Channa pleurophthalma
-  Channa pulchra
-  Channa punctatus - Spotted snake head, green snake head
-  Channa stewartii
-  Channa striata - Snakehead murrel, chevron snakehead, striped snakehead

References

• "Channa". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=166662. Retrieved 6 June 2006. 
• 1Adamson EAS, Hurwood DA, Mather PA (2010) A reappraisal of the evolution of Asian snakehead fishes (Pisces, Channidae) using molecular data from multiple genes and fossil calibration. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56(2): 707–717
• 2 Benziger A, Philip S, Raghavan R, Anvar Ali PH, Sukumaran M, et al. (2011) Unraveling a 146 Years Old Taxonomic Puzzle: Validation of Malabar Snakehead, Species-Status and Its Relevance for Channid Systematics and Evolution. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21272. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021272
• 3 Li X, Musikasinthorn P, Kumazawa Y (2006) Molecular phylogenetic analyses of snakeheads (Perciformes: Channidae) using mitochondrial DNA sequences. Ichthyological Research 53: 148–159