£100.00
Among specialist aquarists, there is a large demand for Channa aurantimaculata. It is a medium-sized and colourful Snakehead species than is intolerant to conspecifics but combines well with other robust fish. These must be able to stand the necessary seasonal drop in temperature during below tropical levels.
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Channa, commonly known as Snakeheads, are primitive predatory fish and members of the family Channidae. They are a group of perciform (perch-like) fishes whose affinities are unknown, although recent studies on the molecular phylogeny of bony fishes consider snakeheads as most closely related to the labyrinth fishes (anabantoids) and the synbranchiform eels, which include the spiny eels.
The genus Channa contains 31 species that are native throughout Asia from are native from southeastern Iran and eastern Afghanistan eastward through Pakistan, India, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Sumatra, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and China northward into Siberia. 3 species of the closely related genera Parachanna are native to parts of Africa
The different species of Channa vary in size considerably. The term dwarf snakeheads is coined by aquarists to describe a group of Channa species growing only 25 centimetres: Channa bleheri, Channa cachua, Channa orientalis and Channa andrao. These species are most suitable for keeping in an aquarium because of their size and their relative docile temperament.
Most of the species grow to a maximum length of 30-90 centimetres. Besides size, this intermediate category contains the most diversity in behaviour since some of the species are closely related to the dwarf species, and some relate more to the category of monster fish.
