The Ceylon snakehead (''Channa orientalis'') is a species of snakehead found in freshwater habitats, typically shaded streams, in southwestern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(although occasionally claimed to occur in other countries, this is misidentifications of relatives, usually '' C. gachua'').Conte-Grand, C., Britz, R., Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Pethi-yagoda, R., Tan, H.H., Hadiaty, R.K., Yaakob, N.S. & Rüber, L. (2017). Barcoding snakeheads (Teleostei, Channidae) re-visited: Discovering greater species diversity and resolving perpetuated taxonomic confusions. PLoS ONE, 12 (9): e0184017.SeriouslyFish
Channa orientalis
Retrieved 12 February 2019. It is evaluated as Vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

and some do consider ''C. orientalis'' as a

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

species.

Description

''C. orientalis'' has a

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 ...

of up to and is one of the smallest species in the family, making it a

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 ...

. It lacks

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s and this distinguishes it from some of its relatives, including ''C. gachua'', a widespread species that also occurs in Sri Lanka (although the Sri Lankan population possibly should be recognized as a species of its own, '' C. kelaartii''). A few other dwarf snakeheads from the Asian mainland, like '' C. andrao'', also lack pelvic fins, but (in addition to distribution) these can be separated by

meristics Meristics is an area of zoology and botany which relates to counting quantitative features of animals and plants, such as the number of fins or scales in fish. A meristic (countable trait) can be used to describe a particular species, or used to i ...

and colour pattern.Britz, R. (2013): Channa andrao, a new species of dwarf snakehead from West Bengal, India (Teleostei: Channidae). Zootaxa, 3731 (2): 287–294. A genetic study published in 2017 revealed that ''C. orientalis'' includes two deeply separated lineages.

Behavior

They are predatory fish that feed on plankton, insects, and sometimes small amphibians. They can breathe on land for short periods of time because they have accessory respiratory organs through which they can use atmospheric oxygen to breathe. During wet weather, they can survive on land for more than four days, but if their bodies dry up, they die because it becomes difficult for them to exchange atmospheric oxygen. The Ceylon snakehead is a

mouth brooder Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a va ...

like many ''

Channa ''Channa'' is a genus of predatory fish in the Family (biology), family Channidae, commonly known as snakeheads, native to freshwater habitats in Asia. This genus contains about 50 Binomial nomenclature, scientifically described species. The gen ...

'' species. The male carries the eggs while the female guards the territory. The male is less active during this period and is often seen close to the surface. The fry remain with the male until they can take care of themselves. Females may catch stray fry and return them to the mouth of the male. The fry are ejected via the gill openings.

References

Ceylon snakehead Fish described in 1801 {{Anabantiformes-stub