Animalia Life

Channa aurantimaculata
FAMILY
Channidae
TAXONOMY
Channa aurantimaculata Musikasinthorn, 2000, Dibrugarh, Assam, India.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
Assamese: Naga cheng.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Maximum length 19.7 in (50 cm). Has two large scales on each side of lower jaw undersurface, scales relatively large (LL= 51–54), black spot at the base of the pectoral fins with five vivid black vertical broad bands, and relatively small pelvic fins (less than half of pectoral fins). Very colorful, upper half of body dark brown to black, with seven or eight large irregular orange blotches, becoming yellow, golden, or orange below, and changing to blue ventrally, with many scattered small black spots.
DISTRIBUTION
Known only from Dibrugarh (Brahmaputra River basin), Northern Assam, India.
HABITAT
Streams, swamps, and ponds probably throughout the region’s discontinuous patches of tropical rainforest.
BEHAVIOR
Effectively transverses wet terrestrial environments.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Nothing known.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Nothing known.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Sold in local markets as food fish; also known as an aquarium fish.

Other popular Animals