Ceylon snakehead fish
| Ceylon snakehead fish | ||||||||||||
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Ceylon snakehead fish ( Channa orientalis ) |
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| Channa orientalis | ||||||||||||
| ( Bloch & Schneider , 1801) |
The Ceylon snakehead fish ( Channa orientalis ( Latin : "orientalis" originating from the Orient)) is a fish belonging to the snakehead family (Channidae).
distribution
Channa orientalis is endemic to Sri Lanka . The snakehead fish from the Indian subcontinent , Afghanistan , Balochistan , Southeast Asia and the Great Sunda Islands that used to be found in this species are now classified as the Asian small snakehead ( Channa gachua ).
features
Channa orientalis becomes a maximum of 33 cm long, but usually remains at a length of 15 to 16 cm, in mountainous areas it is only 10 cm long. This makes it one of the smaller snakehead fish. Its color is very variable according to the large area of distribution. Usually it is more or less brown, green-brown or gray-brown in color with a dark upper side and an almost white underside. Young animals have dark transverse bands or irregular dark spots that become weaker or disappear completely with increasing size. The unpaired fins are dark, occasionally blue with dark fin rays and red fin edges. In contrast to the Asian small snakehead, the Ceylon snakehead fish has no pelvic fins.
- Fin formula : dorsal 34–37, anal 21–23.
- Scale formula : 41–45 (mLR)
The sideline runs from the 10th to the 13th scale, offset by one row of scales downwards.
Way of life
Channa orientalis is very adaptable and lives in rivers, lakes, ponds, ponds, mountain streams and in brackish water with silty or gravelly soils. The fish usually hides under wood or other cover. It tolerates a low oxygen concentration, temperatures of up to 36.5 ° C and can survive dry periods in almost dried out swamp holes. Mainly insects and crustaceans serve as food, to a lesser extent small fish. Channa orientalis belongs to the mouth-brooding snakehead fish .
literature
- Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
- Jörg Töpfer, Frank Schäfer: Channa orientalis. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , p. 212.
Web links
- Ceylon snakehead fish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Channa orientalis , Bloch & Schneider 1801 at snakeheads.org