Dwarf snakehead


Dwarf snakehead is a term coined by aquarists to describe a group of Channa snakehead fishes growing to about maximum. They are found in freshwater habitats in South and Southeast Asia, and southern China.
The following snakeheads belong to this group:
Some of these are borderline dwarf snakeheads, slightly surpassing in maximum length. In contrast, the smallest dwarf snakehead species are less than.
Several of these only recently received their scientific name, but were already known among aquarists before. Examples of this are C. andrao, C. pardalis, C. quinquefasciata, C. torsaensis, and C. brunnea. A few dwarf snakeheads that are known from the aquarium trade remain undescribed, including:
Besides their commonality of being of small size, dwarf snakeheads generally are paternal mouthbrooders. An exception is the free-spawning C. bleheri where the eggs float to the surface and the parents take care of them.
Although several dwarf snakeheads are very close relatives, overall the group is not monophyletic. For example, the dwarfs C. burmanica and C. stewartii are phylogenetically much closer to the large C. barca than they are to the dwarfs C. ornatipinnis, C. pulchra and C. stiktos.