Channa amphibeus (McClelland, 1845)

Open encyclopedia reference

The Borna snakehead, or Chel snakehead, Channa amphibeus, is an extremely rare species of snakehead. C. amphibeus is native only to the Chel River (in the drainage of the Brahmaputra), of the Bhutan foothills, in northern Bengal, India. As with all snakeheads, C. amphibeus is an aggressive predator. The fish grows up to about 25 cm (10 inches). C. amphibeus requires warm fresh water (about 22–28˚C) to properly mature, and access to atmospheric oxygen. It was reported that during rainy periods, young are found "in flooded paddy-fields enclosed by forest; large fish can be found in pools of dried streams in forests." This is a manifestation of behavior common to snakeheads – they need atmospheric air, which they receive by way of a suprabranchial organ (a primitive form of a labyrinth organ). From a young age, C. amphibeus can survive in a low-oxygen water habitat, but if deprived of surface access, adult snakeheads can die from the lack of oxygen.

Wikipedia contributors, Borna snakehead; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:17:00.420621+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Channa amphibeus (McClelland, 1845)

Name authority

(McClelland, 1845)

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Anabantiformes

Family

Channidae

Genus

Channa

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderAnabantiformes
11. suborderChannoidei
12. familyChannidae Fowler, 1934
13. genusChanna Scopoli, 1777
14. speciesChanna amphibeus (McClelland, 1845)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Channa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 32 records assigned to Channidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1022045 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:TM2G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.