| Snakehead murrel | |
|---|---|
| Chiana striata, after Bleeker, 1879 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Perciformes |
| Family: | Channidae |
| Genus: | Channa |
| Species: | C. striata |
| Binomial name | |
| Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) |
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| Distribution of Channa striata. Source: USGS 2004[1] | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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The snakehead murrel, Channa striata, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, striped snakehead, haloan, aruan, haruan, bulig and dalag. It is native to South and Southeast Asia, and has been introduced to some Pacific Islands and Madagascar.
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It grows up to 1 m in length, though because of fishing, this size is rarely found in the wild. It has a widespread range covering southern China, Pakistan, most of India, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and most of Southeast Asia. It has more recently been introduced to the outmost parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mauritius. Reports beginning in the early 20th century that it was introduced into the wild in Hawaii, particularly the island of Oahu, are the apparent result of misidentifications.[2] The only currently confirmed Hawaiian establishment of C. striata is on a commercial fish farm. Popular media and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were perpetuating this apparent mistake as recently as 2002.[3][4] Early- to mid-20th century reports and texts referring to its introduction in California appear to be the result of a misunderstanding.[5]
It is an important food fish in its entire native range, and is of considerable economic importance. Adults are dark brown in colour with faint black bands visible across its entire body. Males and females both help to construct a nest out of water vegetation during breeding time. Eggs are guarded by both parents. Fry are reddish orange and are guarded by both parents until they turn greenish brown at around 5–6 cm.
It is common in freshwater plains, where it migrates from rivers and lakes into flooded fields, returning to the permanent water bodies in the dry season, where it survives by burrowing in the mud.
It preys on frogs, water bugs, smaller fish, and it will attack anything moving when breeding. It is also found in South India in the state of Kerala, and it is locally called as varaal. The curry made with this fish and tapioca is a delicacy in Kerala.
The common snakehead or mudfish is known in Thai language as pla chon (Thai: ปลาช่อน).[6] This fish is very popular in Thai cuisine, where it is prepared in a variety of ways, especially grilled, being a common food item offered by street vendors.
Pla ra, a fermented fish sauce popular in northeastern Thai cuisine, is made by pickling common snakeheads and keeping it for some time.
In Indonesia, common snakeheads known as gabus are a popular type of salted fishes in Indonesian cuisine.
There is also a Chinese sausage prepared with common snakehead flesh in Thailand.[7]
In the Philippines, snakeheads are known as dalag, haloan, and mudfish by the locals. They are commonly served either fried, grilled, or with soup.
The Bathini Goud Brothers in Hyderabad, India, promote the swallowing of live murrel fish and herbs as an asthma treatment, although the high court ruled they cannot call it "medicine". They give it free to children on Mrigasira Nakshatra. There is no evidence it is clinically effective, and children's rights campaigners have called for it to be banned.[8][9]