''Channa bleheri'' (the rainbow snakehead) is a species of

dwarf snakehead Dwarf snakehead is a term coined by Fishkeeping, aquarists to describe a group of Channa, ''Channa'' snakehead fishes growing to about maximum. They are found in freshwater habitats (often streams) in South and Southeast Asia, and southern China.E ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...

basin in the Indian states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

.SeriouslyFish
Channa bleheri
Retrieved 11 February 2019. It is among the most colorful species of snakehead.

Distribution and etymology

In the wild, this species primarily inhabits waters within the Indian state of

, and it is known in Assamese as ''sengeli'' or ''chengeli''. Its

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

honors the explorer Heiko Bleher. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

of this fish honours the explorer and exotic fish trader Heiko Bleher who assisted in the collection of the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

and gave it to Vierke.

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

basin, this fish has a type location at

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

, a city in the northeastern part of Assam.Courtenay, Walter and Williams, James. ''Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): A Biological Synopsis and Risk Assessment''
p. 63
(U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Jan 1, 2004). Its closest relative appears to be '' Channa burmanica'', which is endemic to northern

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Appearance and aquarium popularity

This species is one of the favorite snakeheads for

aquariums An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

because of the colors that inspired its

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

. Juveniles that have reached have yellow bodies, and adults have large orange or red spots. This fish grows to in

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of fish anatomy, their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and fishery biology. Overall length Standard length (SL) is ...

and is a part of the group known informally as

Reproduction and movement

Among dwarf snakeheads, it is the only nestbrooder; all others are mouthbrooders. Females, which are smaller than males, appear to initiate courtship, although the male selects the nesting site, and both parents will guard the

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

. The adult male and female move near the surface for sex. These fish are benthopelagic, meaning that they mostly dwell near the bottom of bodies of water.

Environmental and legal issues

The federal government in the U.S. is concerned that release of this fish into U.S. waters could harm the environment. This predator could kill native species, especially in southern areas such as

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

that have a warm climate similar to Assam's climate. Accordingly, it is illegal in the United States to possess, import, or sell these fish or their eggs.Code of Federal Regulations
50 CFR 16.13 (2010). Violations of this law have occurred in various states (e.g. Kentucky and Georgia).

References

External links

snakeheads.org
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2137399 bleheri Fish of Bangladesh Fish of India Taxa named by Jörg Vierke Fish described in 1991