Channa gachua
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Channidae (Snakeheads)
Channa
Channa gachua
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: elongated. White dorsal, anal and caudal margins; 3-3+1/2 scales between the lateral line and the base of the anterior dorsal rays; relatively small size (Ref. 27732).
Distribution
Asia: Afghanistan in the west to Indonesia through South and Central Asia.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic. Found in: streams.
Biology
Found in hill streams (Ref. 27732). Adults inhabit medium to large rivers, brooks, rapid-running mountain streams and stagnant water bodies including sluggish flowing canals (Ref. 12975). Feed at night on small fish, insects and crustaceans (Ref. 85309). Exhibit parental care, with the male brooding eggs and fry in his mouth (Ref. 85309).
Max length: 32.9 cm TL; common length: 5.0 cm SL; max weight: 287 g.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; bearers (external brooders); parental care: paternal. Male broods the eggs and fry in his mouth (Ref. 85309).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2010-03-23. Resilience: Medium (K=0.50; Fec=389).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Kottelat, M. (1998) Fishes of the Nam Theun and Xe Bangfai basins, Laos, with diagnoses of twenty-two new species (Teleostei: Cyprinidae, Balitoridae, Cobitidae, Coiidae and Odontobutidae). Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwat. 9(1):1-128.
Kottelat, M. (2001) Fishes of Laos. WHT Publications Ltd., Colombo 5, Sri Lanka. 198 p.
Lim, K.K.P., H.H. Tan and J.K.Y. Low (2008) Fishes. p. 145-154. In G.W.H. Davison, P.KL. Ng and H.H. Chew (eds.). The Singapore red data book: threatened plants & animals of Singapore. 2nd ed. Nature Society (Singapore), Singapore. viii, 285 p. : col. ill.; 26 cm.
Kottelat, M. (2013) The fishes of the inland waters of Southeast Asia: a catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 2013 (Suppl. 27):1-663.
Vishwanath, W. and Kh. Geetakumari (2009) Diagnosis and interrelationships of fishes of the genus Channa Scopoli (Teleostei: Channidae) of northeastern India. J. Threat. Taxa 1(2):97-105.
Beamish, F.W.H., R. Plongsesthee, P. Chanintarapoomi and P. Nithirojpakdee (2011) Total length-weight relationships among Thai freshwater fishes and the influence of capture location and preservation. J. Appl. Ichthyol. 27:955-958. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2010.01620.x
Comments On Channa gachua