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Issue: Vol. 5583 No. 1: 31 Jan. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-01-31
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5583.1.4
Page range: 87-100
Abstract views: 2548
PDF downloaded: 17

Lost for more than 85 years—rediscovery of Channa amphibeus (McClelland, 1845), the world’s most elusive snakehead species (Teleostei, Labyrinthici, Channidae)

Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CIARI); Port Blair; Andaman and Nicobar Islands; India; 744 101
Thackeray Wildlife Foundation; Bandra; Mumbai; India; 400 051
Dr. M.G.R. Fisheries College and Research Institute; Tamil Nadu Dr.J.Jayalalithaa Fisheries University; Ponneri; India; 601 204
A1101; Synchronicity CHS; Mumbai; India
Department of Zoology; Ravenshaw University; Cuttack; India; 753 003
Pisces Chel Snakehead Bora Chung Channa barca potentially extinct rare

Abstract

The Chel Snakehead or Bora Chung, Channa amphibeus, is a large snakehead species endemic to the Himalayan region of India. Channa amphibeus was last recorded from specimens collected in the years between 1918 and 1933 (Shaw & Shebbeare 1938), leading to speculations that it may have gone extinct. Here, we report the re-discovery of the species after more than 85 years, based on three specimens collected in the year 2024, and additional photographic records. We also provide the first live image of C. amphibeus, along with biometric, and genetic data.

 

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