African snakehead fish

African snakehead fish
	African snakehead fish ( Parachanna africana )
Systematics
	Spinefish (Acanthopterygii)
	Perch relatives (Percomorphaceae)
Order :	Climbing fish species (Anabantiformes)
Family :	Snakehead fish (Channidae)
Genre :	Parachanna
Type :	African snakehead fish
Scientific name
	Parachanna africana
	( Steindachner , 1879)

The African snakehead fish ( Parachanna africana ) is a freshwater fish from the family of the snakehead fish and occurs from the Ouémé in Benin over the Niger Delta and the lower Cross River in Nigeria to Cameroon , possibly also to Gabon .

features

The African snakehead fish reaches a maximum length of 33 cm and has the elongated body that is typical of snakehead fish, tapering slightly towards the back, with long dorsal and anal fin. The head is flattened and covered with relatively large scales (larger than the body scales). The predatory fish's lower jaw protrudes slightly and is equipped with three to four well-developed fangs. The dorsal and anal fins have no contact with the rounded caudal fin.

Fin formula : dorsal 45–48, anal 32–35.
Lateral row scales 73–83, cross row scales 19–24.

The African snakehead fish is light to dark gray in color, with a darker back and a light belly side. There are eight to eleven angular dark bars on the sides of the body. A dark band runs from the back edge of the eye to the end of the gill cover, where it forms a large dark spot. A smaller dark spot lies on the base of the caudal fin. More or less clearly pronounced oblique, dark stripes are visible on the fins. Young fish are ocher-colored and have a black longitudinal band that extends from the tip of the mouth to the caudal fin.

literature

Melanie Stiassny, Guy Teugels & Carl D. Hopkins: The Fresh and Brackish Water Fishes of Lower Guinea, West-Central Africa. Volume 2, ISBN 9789074752206
Nora Brede, Pascal Antler: Snakehead fish: The genera Channa and Parachanna. Natur und Tier-Verlag (2009), ISBN 3-8665-9104-7

Web links

Commons : Parachanna africana - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Parachanna africana on Fishbase.org (English)

Parachanna africana inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . 2. Posted by: Lalèyè, P. & Olaosebikan, BD, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2014.