Animal field guide
Striped Snakehead
Channa striata
Air-breathing is essential to this long, predatory freshwater fish. A chamber above the gills lets it gulp oxygen at the surface, so it thrives in warm, stagnant water that suffocates other fish, and when ponds dry out it has been recorded surviving for weeks buried in damp mud.
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Animal · South Asia · Still and slow fresh water in the · Relatively common
Known for: Long, Flattened, Dark blotches or oblique bands along the grey-brown, Very long dorsal and anal fins without spines
Animal field guide
Striped Snakehead
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Air-breathing is essential to this long, predatory freshwater fish. A chamber above the gills lets it gulp oxygen at the surface, so it thrives in warm, stagnant water that suffocates other fish, and when ponds dry out it has been recorded surviving for weeks buried in damp mud.
Native range
Natural range, not this capture location
Still and slow fresh water in the lowlands: swamps, marshes, rice paddies, ponds, ditches, canals and the margins of sluggish rivers. It favours warm, muddy, weed-choked shallows.
Search near meAnimalDex stats
Dominance
38
Speed
40
Size
20
Intelligence
28
Rarity
26%
Total
152
Size scale
STEP 2 · PROVE IT
STEP 3 · BATTLE & FUSE
Understand the animal
Understand the Striped Snakehead
Factual biology first: what this animal is like, where it lives, how it survives, and why those traits exist.
01
Introduction to Striped Snakehead
Air-breathing is essential to this long, predatory freshwater fish. A chamber above the gills lets it gulp oxygen at the surface, so it thrives in warm, stagnant water that suffocates other fish, and when ponds dry out it has been recorded surviving for weeks buried in damp mud.
How to identify a Striped Snakehead
- Long, cylindrical body, rounded in cross-section
- Flattened, snake-like head covered in large scales
- Dark blotches or oblique bands along the grey-brown flanks
- Very long dorsal and anal fins without spines
- Wide mouth with sharp teeth and a rounded tail
Why Striped Snakehead are interesting
- It is one of the most important food fishes in South and Southeast Asia and is farmed in ponds and cages in several countries.
- It has been reported to reach about 1 metre in length, though most fish caught are well under half that size.
- During wet weather it can wriggle short distances over land to reach another pond or ditch.
- In Malaysia, where it is called haruan, the flesh is traditionally eaten to help wounds heal after surgery or childbirth.
02
Adaptations and biological abilities
03
Why does Striped Snakehead behave this way?
- Long, cylindrical body, rounded in cross-section
- Flattened, snake-like head covered in large scales
- Dark blotches or oblique bands along the grey-brown flanks
- Very long dorsal and anal fins without spines
- Wide mouth with sharp teeth and a rounded tail
Feeds both by day and after dark, with most hunting reported around dawn and dusk. Between hunts it lies still among submerged plants in the shallows.
04
Why Still and slow fresh water in the lowlands?
Habitat: Still and slow fresh water in the lowlands: swamps, marshes, rice paddies, ponds, ditches, canals and the margins of sluggish rivers. It favours warm, muddy, weed-choked shallows.
Native range: South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia
Native range
Natural range, not this specific capture location.
Still and slow fresh water in the lowlands: swamps, marshes, rice paddies, ponds, ditches, canals and the margins of sluggish rivers. It favours warm, muddy, weed-choked shallows.
05
Why this diet?
06
Activity, rest, and lifespan
Feeds both by day and after dark, with most hunting reported around dawn and dusk. Between hunts it lies still among submerged plants in the shallows.
Wild lifespan is poorly documented. Captive fish commonly live several years, and ages of around 10 years have been reported.
07
Striped Snakehead reproduction
Spawning peaks in the rainy season. The pair clears a small space among floating plants, and the buoyant eggs hatch in about one to three days. Both parents guard the fry for several weeks.
Males and females look alike. Ripe females are fuller in the belly before spawning, but the sexes are hard to tell apart in the field.
08
Predators, threats, and defense
09
Conservation and rarity
Rarity: Relatively common · 26/100. AnimalDex canonical rarity score: 26/100, maintained by the live indexed species profile.
- Observe from a respectful distance and avoid changing the animal's behavior.
- Do not block feeding, shelter, nesting, or travel routes.
- Use a live camera capture without handling or staging wildlife.
Speak to the animal
Speak to the Striped Snakehead
It answers as itself: ask about how it lives, or bring it something of yours and hear what it would do, from its own Power.
Anonymous: 3/day. Signed-in: 10/day. Pro: 100/day.
Compare
Compare the Striped Snakehead
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Battled in the Arena
No one has taken a Striped Snakehead into an Arena battle yet. Battles players fight with this animal in the AnimalDex app show up here.
Where to find them
Where to find Striped Snakehead
To find Striped Snakehead in the wild, focus on the exact habitat patches that match its body design and daily behavior, not just the broad country where it exists. You usually do better by working one good piece of habitat inside south Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia than by covering too much ground.
- Quiet marsh edges, reedbeds, river bends, or shallow wetland margins
- Protected habitat blocks within south Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia
Scientific name
Channa striata
Category
Animal
Habitat
Still and slow fresh water in the lowlands: swamps, marshes, rice paddies, ponds, ditches, canals and the margins of sluggish rivers. It favours warm, muddy, weed-choked shallows.
Rarity
Relatively common · 26/100
Native range
South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia
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