Channa striata

Channa striata, the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also

known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, or snakehead murrel and
generally referred simply as mudfish. 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.[3][4]
 Channa striata

Channa striata, after Bleeker, 1879

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Anabantiformes

Family: Channidae

Genus: Channa

Species: C. striata

Binomial name

Channa striata

(Bloch, 1793)
 Distribution of Channa striata.[2]

Madagascar reports are misidentifications of C. maculata[3][4]

Synonyms[5]

Ophicephalus striatus Bloch, 1793

Channa stiata (Bloch, 1793)

Ophiocephalus wrahl Lacépède, 1801

Ophiocephalus chena Hamilton, 1822

Ophicephalus planiceps Cuvier, 1831

Ophiocephalus vagus Peters, 1868

Ophiocephalus philippinus Peters, 1868

A genetic study published in 2017 indicates that C. striata is a species complex.[6]

Description

It is a bony fish with endoskeleton ribcage, grows up to a meter in length, though

because of fishing, this size is rarely found in the wild. It has a widespread range
covering southern China, Pakistan, most of India, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, and most of Southeast Asia. It has more recently been introduced to the
outermost parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mauritius. Reports beginning in
the early 20th century that it was introduced into the wild in Hawaii, particularly
the island of Oahu, as well as later reports from Madagascar, are the result of
misidentifications of C. maculata.[3][4] The only currently confirmed Hawaiian
establishment of C. striata is on a commercial fish farm. Popular media and the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service were perpetuating this apparent mistake
as recently as 2002.[7][8] Early- to mid-20th century reports and texts referring to
its introduction in California appear to be the result of a misunderstanding.[9]
It is an important food fish in its entire native range, and is of considerable
economic importance. Adults are dark brown in colour with faint black bands
visible across its entire body. Males and females both help to construct a nest out
of water vegetation during breeding time. Eggs are guarded by both parents. Fry
are reddish orange and are guarded by both parents until they turn greenish brown
at around 5–6 cm.

It is common in freshwater plains, where it migrates from rivers and lakes into
flooded fields, returning to the permanent water bodies in the dry season, where it
survives by burrowing in the mud.

It preys on frogs, water bugs, and smaller fish, and it will attack anything moving
when breeding.

Nomenclature

Common snakeheads are known as ngayan (ငါးရံ့) in Burmese; Nga-mu porom in

Meitei, xól/xol (শ’ল/শল) in Assamese, Garai (गरई) in North Indian Languages, shol
(শোল) in Bengali,"sol" (‫ )سول‬in Urdu, Pakistan, Sheula (ଶେଉଳ) in Odia, varaal
(വരാല്)) in Kerala, India; viral/mural/selumural/nedumural (in Tamil:
விரால்,முறால்,செலுமுரல்,நெடுமுரல்) in Tamil Nadu, India; "poochepa"
Koramenu/Korra matta (Telugu: కొర్ర మేను/కొర్ర మట్ట), India; Madenji (Tulu: ಮಡೆಂಜಿ) in
Tulu Nadu, India; and Loola ලූලා in Sri Lanka; trey ross (Khmer: ត្រីរ៉ស់ ), pla chon
(Thai: ปลาช่อน) in Thailand;[10] gabus in Indonesia; haruan in Malaysia;[11] dalak in
Brunei and haloan, aruan, haruan, in Malay, cá lóc đồng in Vietnamese, 生鱼, 泰国鳢
in Chinese , halwan, bulig, dalag, turagsoy or "mudfish" in the Philippines.

Gastronomy
Snakehead fish packed with lemon grass and lime leaves ready for steaming

A curry made with this fish and tapioca is a delicacy in Kerala. In Indonesia,
common snakeheads are a popular type of salted fishes in Indonesian cuisine. In
the Philippines, they are commonly served either fried, grilled, paksiw (poached in
a water-vinegar mix), or with soup (commonly cooked with rice washing).

Dishes using this fish eaten with rice is very popular among Bengalis of West
Bengal and Bangladesh. The fish is also an esteemed delicacy in other parts of
India, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Kerala.

Common snakeheads are very popular in Thai cuisine, where they are prepared in
a variety of ways. Grilled fish is a common food item offered by street vendors or
in kaeng som. Pla ra, a fermented fish sauce popular in northeastern Thai cuisine,
is made by pickling common snakehead and keeping it for some time. Also, a
Chinese sausage is prepared with common snakehead flesh in Thailand.[12]

Immune system
Worldwide inland fish culture industry is suffering from massive economic losses
due to epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) and fish-based pathogens. The
available literature indicate that infection from fish pathogens like bacteria
(Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas sobria), fungi (Aphanomyces invadans) and
viruses can cause stunted growth and severe mortality in the C. striatus. Channa
striatus rely on their innate immune components to fight against these infections.
Some of the immune molecules that have been characterized in Channa striatus
includes Chemokine, Chemokine receptors, Thioredoxin, Superoxide dismutase,
Serine Protease, Cathepsin,[13] Lectin.

In culture

The Bathini Goud Brothers in Hyderabad, India, promote the swallowing of live
murrel fish and herbs claimed as a treatment for asthma, although the high court
ruled they cannot call it "medicine". They give it free to children on Mrigasira
Nakshatra. No evidence indicates it is clinically effective, and children's rights
campaigners have called for it to be banned.[14][15]

Folklore among Chinese in South China and Southeast Asia has it that eating
haruan fish helps in postsurgical wound healing.[16]

References

1. Chaudhry, S.; de Alwis Goonatilake, S.; Fernado, M.; Kotagama, O. (2019). "Channa striata" (htt
ps://www.iucnredlist.org/species/166563/60591113) . IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. 2019: e.T166563A60591113. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-
3.RLTS.T166563A60591113.en (https://doi.org/10.2305%2FIUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T166563A6
0591113.en) . Retrieved 19 November 2021.

2. Courtenay Jr.; Walter R. & James D. Williams. "Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae): A biological
synopsis and risk assessment" (https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/cir1251) . U.S.
Geological Survey.

3. USGS, Southeast Ecological Science Center: Channa striata. (http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Snake

head_circ_1251/html/channa_striata.html) Retrieved 27 June 2014.
 4. Walter R. Courtenay, Jr., James D. Williams, Ralf Britz, Mike N. Yamamoto, and Paul V. Loiselle.
Bishop Occasional Papers, 2004. [1] (http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/press/web/detailed2.a
sp?search=Occasional%20Papers%20Number%2077) Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20070708154656/http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/press/web/detailed2.asp?search=Occa
sional%20Papers%20Number%2077) 2007-07-08 at the Wayback Machine Identity of
Introduced Snakeheads (Pisces, Channidae) in Hawaii and Madagascar, with Comments on
Ecological Concerns.

5. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Channa striata " (http://www.fishbase.org/summar
y/SpeciesSummary.php?genusname=Channa&speciesname=striata) in FishBase. August
2019 version.

6. Conte-Grand, C., Britz, R., Dahanukar, N., Raghavan, R., Pethi-yagoda, R., Tan, H.H., Hadiaty,
R.K., Yaakob, N.S. & Rüber, L. (2017). Barcoding snakeheads (Teleostei, Channidae) re-visited:
Discovering greater species diversity and resolving perpetuated taxonomic confusions. PLoS
ONE, 12 (9): e0184017.

7. Akana-Gooch, Keiko Kiele. Hawaii snakehead lacks ferocity of mainland kin: A kinder, gentler
fish, it poses no local threat to the environment (http://starbulletin.com/2002/07/28/news/sto
ry6.html) . Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 2002-07-28. Retrieved 2007-07-15.

8. Federal Register: July 26, 2002 (Volume 67, Number 144) (https://www.fws.gov/policy/library/
02fr48855.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20080209082124/http://www.fws.
gov/policy/library/02fr48855.html) February 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Federal
Register Online. 2002-07-26. Retrieved 2007-07-15.

9. Dill, William A., and Almo J. Cordone. Chevron snakehead, Channa striata (Bloch) (http://conte
nt.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt8p30069f&doc.view=content&chunk.id=d0e6219&toc.depth=1&
brand=calisphere&anchor.id=0) History and status of introduced fishes in California, 1871-
1996. Retrieved 2007-07-15.

10. Fishing in Thailand (http://fishing.phoinn.net/fish_for_angler.html#P3) Archived (https://we

b.archive.org/web/20090629081253/http://fishing.phoinn.net/fish_for_angler.html) 2009-
06-29 at the Wayback Machine (in Thai)

11. Chua, Eddie. "The lure of the haruan" (https://archive.today/20130413154516/http://thestar.co

m.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/9/27/central/12084813) . The Star Online. Archived from
the original (http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/9/27/central/12084813) on
13 April 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

12. Recipes (http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/Ingredients/mudfish.htm)

13. Venkatesh K, Prasanth B, Rajesh P, Annie JG, Mukesh P, Jesu A (2014). "A murrel cysteine
protease, cathepsin L: bioinformatics characterization, gene expression and proteolytic
activity" (https://doi.org/10.2478%2Fs11756-013-0326-8) . Biologia. 39 (3): 395–406.
doi:10.2478/s11756-013-0326-8 (https://doi.org/10.2478%2Fs11756-013-0326-8) .

14. "Indians flock for asthma 'cure' " (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2974810.stm) .

BBC News. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 5 June 2011.

15. "SHRC moved against 'fish medicine' " (https://web.archive.org/web/20120616074602/http://

articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-01/hyderabad/29607946_1_fish-medicine-tradit
ional-medicine-bathini-goud-brothers) . The Times of India. 1 June 2011. Archived from the
original (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-01/hyderabad/29607946_1_fish-
medicine-traditional-medicine-bathini-goud-brothers) on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 5 June
2011.

16. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110105200828/http://web.usm.my/mjps/MJ

PS%203(2)%202005/MJPS%203.2.3.pdf) (PDF). web.usm.my. Archived from the original (ht
tp://web.usm.my/mjps/MJPS%203(2)%202005/MJPS%203.2.3.pdf) (PDF) on 5 January
2011. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

External links

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Channa_striata&oldid=1105752171"

Last edited 2 months ago by 2601:541:4580:8500:518:AAD1:4BC:624F