Channa harcourtbutleri

Channa harcourtbutleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Superclass:	Osteichthyes
Class:	Actinopterygii
Subclass:	Neopterygii
Infraclass:	Teleostei
Superorder:	Acanthopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Channidae
Genus:	Channa
Species:	C. harcourtbutleri
Binomial name
	Channa harcourtbutleri; (Annandale, 1918)
Synonyms
	Ophiocephalus harcourt-butleri Annandale, 1918; Channa harbourtbutleri (lapsus)

Channa harcourtbutleri is a species of snakehead endemic to Inle Lake^[1] and surroundings^[2] in Myanmar. Locally called nga ohn-ma, among aquarists it is known as one of the "dwarf snakeheads", but no significant import for aquarists is known. It is one of the smallest species of snakehead and has a length of 20 cm. The specific name honors Sir Harcourt Butler, a British governor in the region.^[1]

This was for a long time considered to be a junior synonym of Channa gachua. In fact, both species closely resemble each other. The article on its revalidation^[3] only mentions three discriminating features, such as the missing ocellus in the dorsal fin of a juvenile Channa harcourtbutleri. It is suspected to be a mouthbrooder and eats a wide range of foods, including arthropods and small fish, but unlike in some relatives, no frogs.

References

^ ^a ^b Annandale (1918)
^ Roberts (2007)
^ Ng et al. (1999)

Sources

Annandale, Nelson Theodore (1918): Fish and fisheries of the Inle Lake. Records of the Indian Museum 14(1): 33-64. HTML fulltext^{[permanent dead link]}
Ng, H.H.; Ng, Peter K.L. & Britz, Ralf (1999): Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale, 1918): a valid species of snakehead (Perciformes: Channidae) from Myanmar. Journal of South Asian Natural History 4: 57-63. HTML fulltext^{[permanent dead link]}
Roberts, Tyson R. (2007): The "Celestial pearl danio", a new genus and species of colourful minute cyprinid fish from Myanmar (Pisces: Cypriniformes). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 55(1): 131-140. PDF fulltext

External links

"Channa harcourtbutleri". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 April 2006.
Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2005). "Channa harcourtbutleri" in FishBase. November 2005 version.
snakeheads.org

[annandale1918-1] Annandale (1918)

[2] Roberts (2007)

[3] Ng et al. (1999)

[1]

[2]

[3]