#2361 · 🐟 fish

Striped Snakehead

Channa striata

LCleast concern 🐟 Fish 📍 outside Europe

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Vijay Anand Ismavel · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
2. © BEDO (Thailand) · CC BY-SA 4.0
3. © H.T.Cheng · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Tan Kok Hui · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Sam Hambly · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Tommy Hui · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Eric C. Maxwell · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
8. © Tan Kok Hui · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. © Tse Chung Yi · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Channa striata , the striped snakehead , is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead , chevron snakehead and snakehead murrel . It is native to South and Southeast Asia, and has been introduced to some Pacific Islands (reports from Madagascar and Hawaii are misidentifications of C. maculata ).

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 4,001iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
4,001 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Marcus Elieser Bloch in 1793 (233 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Striped Snakehead
scientific name: Channa striata
class: Actinopterygii
order: Anabantiformes
family: Channidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 0
sightings worldwide: 4,001
GBIF records in NL: 0
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: —
named: 1793 by Marcus Elieser Bloch

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 97280, Wikidata Q686439, GBIF 2391463, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.