Snakehead
Channa argus (Cantor, 1842)
Status not recordedbony fish
The snakehead (Channa argus) is a species in the family Channidae, order Anabantiformes.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the snakehead
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the snakehead live?
Not recorded
Is the snakehead endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the snakehead classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classTeleostei
- orderAnabantiformes
- familyChannidae
- genusChanna
- SpeciesChanna argus (Cantor, 1842)
Synonyms Channa arga, Channa argus argus, Channa argus kimurai, Channa argus warpachowskii, Ophicephalus argus, Ophicephalus argus warpachowskii, Ophicephalus pekinensis, Ophiocephalus argus, Ophiocephalus argus warpachowskii, Ophiocephalus pekinensis, Ophiocephalus warpachowskii
Other names and names in other languages (35)
- Northern snakeheadEnglish
- Ocellated snakeheadEnglish
- hadohlavec skvrnitýCzech
- Kinesisk slangehovedfiskDanish
- Argus-SchlangenkopffischGerman
- cabeza de víboraSpanish
- Tähniline madupeaEstonian
- idänkäärmeenpääFinnish
- Poisson tête de serpentFrench
- Pesce testa di serpenteItalian
- ライギョJapanese
- 가물치Korean
- noordelijke slangenkopvisDutch
- wężogłówPolish
- Cabeça-de-cobra-do-nortePortuguese
- Обыкновенный змееголовRussian
- nordlig ormhuvudsfiskSwedish
- ปลาช่อนอากัสThai
- 乌鱼Chinese
- Cabeza de serpienteSpanish
- Poisson à tête de serpent du NordFrench
- カムルチーJapanese
- ปลาช่อนจีนลายจุดThai
- ปลาช่อนเหนือThai
- 乌鳢Chinese
- 多眼斑鱧Chinese
- 才鱼Chinese
- 火头Chinese
- 烏鱧Chinese
- 蛇皮鱼Chinese
- 财鱼Chinese
- 食人鱼Chinese
- 黑乌鳢Chinese
- 黑鱧Chinese
- 黑鱼Chinese
Relatives of the snakehead
Other species in the same genus Channa.

Asian snakehead
Channa striata
Red snakehead
Channa micropeltes
Dwarf snakehead
Channa gachua
Chinafish
Channa asiatica
Ceylon snakehead
Channa orientalis
Green snakehead
Channa punctata
CompareSnakehead vs Asian snakeheadSnakehead vs Red snakeheadSnakehead vs Dwarf snakeheadSnakehead vs Chinafish
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
What kind of animal is the snakehead?
The snakehead (Channa argus) belongs to the family Channidae in the order Anabantiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Snakehead (Channa argus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/channa-argus
“Snakehead (Channa argus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/channa-argus.
@misc{channa_argus_2026,
title = {Snakehead (Channa argus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/channa-argus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}