Channa maculata (Lacepède, 1801)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The blotched snakehead (Channa maculata) is a species of snakehead. It is one of four species of the genus Channa native to China. It is also native to northern Vietnam and Taiwan, but has been widely introduced to other countries, where it is an invasive species. This predatory species typically grows to a length of 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in), but it has been confirmed at 33 cm (13 in) and some suggest it may reach a far larger size.
Wikipedia contributors, Blotched snakehead; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:17:08.578911+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Channa maculata (Lacepède, 1801)
- Name authority
- (Lacepède, 1801)
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderAnabantiformes
- suborderChannoidei
- familyChannidae Fowler, 1934
- genusChanna Scopoli, 1777
- speciesChanna maculata (Lacepède, 1801)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Channa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Channa hoaluensis Nguyen, 2011 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa bipuli Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan & Bleher, 2018 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa brahmacharyi Chakraborty, Yardi & Mukherjee, 2020 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa lipor Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan & Singh, 2019 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa quinquefasciata Praveenraj, Uma, Knight, Moulitharan, Balasubramanian, Bineesh & Bleher, 2018 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa rara Britz, Dahanukar, Anoop & Ali, 2019 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa stiktos Lalramliana, Knight, Lalhlimpuia & Singh, 2018 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa brunnea Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan & Kannan, 2019 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa aristonei Praveenraj, Thackeray, Singh, Uma, Moulitharan & Mukhim, 2020 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa amphibeus (McClelland, 1845) | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Channa andrao Britz, 2013 | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| snakeheadChanna argus (Cantor, 1842) | ChannidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Ophiocephalus maculatus (Lacepède, 1801) (Lacepède, 1801) | synonym |
| Bostrychus maculatus Lacepède, 1801 Lacepède, 1801 | synonym |
| Ophicephalus tadianus Jordan & Evermann, 1902 Jordan & Evermann, 1902 | synonym |
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.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=743356 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:TM3G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.