The taxonomy of the genus
Channa is incomplete, and a comprehensive revision of the family has not been performed. A
phylogenetic study in 2010 has indicated the likelihood of the existence of
undescribed species of channids in Southeast Asia, and a more comprehensive phylogenetic study in 2017 indicated that several undescribed species exist in Asia (as well as an undescribed
Parachanna in Africa). In 2011, the Malabar snakehead
Channa diplogramma from peninsular India was shown to be a distinct species, 146 years after its initial description and 134 years after it was synonymised with
C. micropeltes, establishing it is an endemic species of peninsular India. The study also suggested that the species shared a most recent common ancestor with
C. micropeltes, around 9.52 to 21.76 MYA.
Species '' '' '' '' '' Currently, 50 recognized species are placed in this genus: •
Channa amari Dey et al., 2019 — likely a synonym of
C. brunnea •
Channa amphibeus (
McClelland, 1845) (Borna snakehead) •
Channa andrao Britz, 2013 •
Channa ara (
Deraniyagala, 1945) •
Channa argus (
Cantor, 1842) (northern snakehead) •
Channa aristonei •
Channa asiatica (
Linnaeus, 1758) (small snakehead) •
Channa aurantimaculata Musikasinthorn, 2000 (orange-spotted snakehead) •
Channa aurantipectoralis Lalhlimpuia,
Lalronunga &
Lalramliana, 2016 •
Channa auroflammea Adamson, Britz and S. Lieng, 2019 •
Channa aurolineata (
F. Day, 1870) •
Channa bankanensis (
Bleeker, 1853) •
Channa baramensis (
Steindachner, 1901) •
Channa barca (
F. Hamilton, 1822) (barca snakehead) •
Channa bipuli Praveenraj,
Uma,
Moulitharan & Bleher, 2018 •
Channa bleheri Vierke, 1991 (rainbow snakehead) •
Channa brahmacharyi Chakraborty,
Yardi &
Mukherjee, 2020 •
Channa brunnea Praveenraj, Uma, Moulitharan &
Kannan, 2019 •
Channa burmanica B. L. Chaudhuri, 1919 •
Channa coccinea Britz,
H. H. Tan &
Rüber, 2024 •
Channa cyanospilos (
Bleeker, 1853) •
Channa diplogramma (
F. Day, 1865) (Malabar snakehead) •
Channa gachua (
F. Hamilton, 1822) (dwarf snakehead) •
Channa harcourtbutleri (
Annandale, 1918) (Burmese snakehead) •
Channa hoaluensis Nguyen, 2011 •
Channa longistomata (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2012) •
Channa lucius (G. Cuvier, 1831) (forest snakehead) •
Channa maculata (
Lacépède, 1801) (blotched snakehead) •
Channa marulioides (
Bleeker, 1851) (emperor snakehead) •
Channa marulius (F. Hamilton, 1822) (great snakehead) •
Channa melanoptera (Bleeker, 1855) •
Channa melanostigma Geetakumari &
Vishwanath Waikhom, 2011 •
Channa melasoma (
Bleeker, 1851) (black snakehead) •
Channa micropeltes (
G. Cuvier, 1831) (giant snakehead) •
Channa ninhbinhensis V. H. Nguyễn, 2011 •
Channa nox C. G. Zhang,
Musikasinthorn &
Watanabe, 2002 (night snakehead) •
Channa orientalis Bloch &
J. G. Schneider, 1801 (Ceylon snakehead) •
Channa ornatipinnis Britz, 2008 •
Channa panaw Musikasinthorn, 1998 (Panaw snakehead) •
Channa pardalis Knight, 2016 •
Channa pleurophthalma (Bleeker, 1851) •
Channa pomanensis Gurumayum & Tamang, 2016 •
Channa pseudomarulius (Günther, 1861) •
Channa pulchra Britz, 2007 •
Channa punctata (
Bloch, 1793) (spotted snakehead) •
Channa pyrophthalmus Ralf Britz, Tan Heok Hui, & Lukas Rüber, 2024 •
Channa rakhinica Ralf Britz, Tan Heok Hui, & Lukas Rüber, 2024 •
Channa royi Praveenraj
et al., 2018 (Andaman emerald snakehead) — likely a synonym of
C. harcourtbutleri •
Channa stewartii (
Playfair (
fr), 1867) (Assamese snakehead) •
Channa stiktos Lalramliana, Knight, Lalhlimpuia & Singh, 2018 •
Channa striata (Bloch, 1793) (striped snakehead) ==References==