Channa fasciata 



WILLIAM T. INNES 



Channa fasciata 





Photo, by Author 





A single adult pair and a few young 

 of Channa fasciata were recently im- 

 ported from Southern Asia. During the 

 early part of the late summer, my friend 

 Locke, of San Francisco, made a pil- 

 grimage to the Eastern States in search 

 of rare tropicals, bringing to me the 

 breeding pair. He thought them a new 

 species of "snakehead" (Ophiocephalus) 

 this opinion having been ventured by a 

 prominent ichthyologist of California. 

 The fish has, however, been since deter- 

 mined unquestionably as Channa fasciata 

 by Mr. Henry W. Fowler, of the Acad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia. The original description, by an 



early writer, is complete and convincing. 

 The snakeheads are provided with an 

 accessory superbranchial cavity, and are 

 able to breathe atmospheric air. All are 

 inhabitants of fresh water. Of the two 

 genera making up the family, the snake- 

 heads proper are most numerous, about 

 twenty-five species being known from 

 Asia and three from Africa. Channa, 

 which is distinguished by the absence of 

 ventrals fins, boasts of but three species 

 from Ceylon and China. The group 

 seems to be more closely related to the 

 climbing perches (Anabantidae) than f o 

 the more familiar labyrinth fishes of the 

 family Osphromenidae, many of wh'ch 



