''Channa royi'', the Andaman emerald snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish

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

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This

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 ...

is distinct from other snakehead species due to its differing coloration, number of vertebrae, and teeth, most notably its greenish-gray dorsum. It was only

scientifically described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it diffe ...

in 2018 and its closest relative is the Burmese snakehead (''C. hartcourtbutleri''), and a review in 2019 argued that the two are

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. If recognized as its own species, it is only known from the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

, and North Andaman islands, and is abundant in clear, slow-flowing water with rocks and little vegetation, such as ditches, ponds, and hill streams. 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 ...

honours the fisheries biologist Sibnarayan Dam Roy.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60792690 Endemic fauna of the Andaman Islands royi Freshwater fish of India Fish described in 2018