The Malabar snakehead (''Channa diplogramma'') is a vulnerable species of snakehead from

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

in the Western Ghats in India. Until 2011, its scientific name was usually considered to be a

synonym 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 ...

of '' C. micropeltes'', the giant snakehead.Benziger A, Philip S, Raghavan R, Anvar Ali PH, Sukumaran M, et al. (2011
Unraveling a 146 Years Old Taxonomic Puzzle: Validation of Malabar Snakehead, Species-Status and Its Relevance for Channid Systematics and Evolution.
''PLoS ONE 6(6): e21272. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021272''

Taxonomy

Sir

Francis Day Francis Talbot Day (2 March 1829 – 10 July 1889) was an army surgeon and naturalist in the Madras Presidency who later became the Inspector-General of Fisheries in British Raj, India and British rule in Burma, Burma. A pioneer ichthyologist, ...

described ''Ophiocephalus diplogramma'' in 1865 based on one juvenile specimen (42 mm in length) collected near the mouth of the Cochin River in the port city of

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

(southwestern India) and called it Malabar snakehead. The colour pattern of this juvenile matched with that of juveniles of another species of snakehead, '' O. micropeltes'', originally described by

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

and

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

from

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, Indonesia. This possibly led Day to synonymise ''C. diplogramma'' with ''C. micropeltes'' in 1878.Day F (1878) Fishes of India; being a natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and freshwaters of India, Burma and Ceylon. The close similarity, rarity of adult specimens in museum collections, and because no

taxonomist In biology, taxonomy () is the science, scientific study of naming, defining (Circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxon, taxa (si ...

had studied this snakehead since its description, resulted in the subsequent acceptance of the synonymy by

ichthyologists Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

. In 2011, ''C. diplogramma'' was shown to be a valid species 134 years after it was synonymised, making it an endemic species of

peninsular India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the Union territories of In ...

Biology

''C. diplogramma'' shows multiple colour phases during its life history, which makes local fishers believe that they are different species. The different specimens are also known by different

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

names (''pulivaka'', ''karivaka'', ''manalvaka'', and ''charalvaka''). All these specimen in different colour phases occur sympatrically and use the same ecological habitats.

Distribution

The Malabar snakehead is endemic to the southern Western Ghats of

. It is known from the

Meenachil Meenachil is the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi, the Hindu Goddess. Pala is the main city in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil. Geogra ...

Manimala Manimala is a small town and a village in Kottayam district in the Indian state of Kerala, situated about from the nearest town Kanjirappally. It was declared a folklore village in 2011 by the central government to promote folklore. Geograp ...

Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...

Achenkovil Achankovil is a long west flowing river in Kerala, India. It flows through the districts of Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha. The river drains vast tract of fertile plains of Upper Kuttanad in the Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts. I ...

and

Kallada Kallada is a village in Kollam district of the Indian state of Kerala. Maharaja Marthanda Varma of the kingdom of Travancore was born there. The Kallada River The Kallada River is the longest river in Kollam District, Kerala, India. The river ...

Rivers (and their reservoirs) in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, as well as the Chittar and Tambaraparani Rivers (and their reservoirs) in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Identification

The Malabar snakehead differs from all other species in the genus by its high number of

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelia ...

scales (103–105 vs. 36–91). It further differs from all other ''Channa'' species, except '' C. bankanensis'', '' C. lucius'', '' C. micropeltes'', and '' C. pleurophthalma'', by the presence of gular scales, a patch of scales between the anterior tips of the lower jaws, visible in ventral view. ''C. diplogramma'' differs from ''C. bankanensis'', ''C. lucius'', and '' C. pleurophtalma'' by having a very different color pattern, and from its sister species ''C. micropeltes'' by a combination of characteristics, viz. number of caudal

fin ray Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only b ...

s, lateral line scales, scales below lateral line; total vertebrae, pre-anal length, and body depth.

Conservation status

The Malabar snakehead is listed as a vulnerable species in the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

in view of its restricted distribution, and threats including fishing, habitat loss, and pollution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Channa Diplogramma Malabar snakehead Fish of India Fish described in 1865