---
title: "Striped Snakehead"
description: "Channa striata — Fish. Channa striata, the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/striped-snakehead
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Striped Snakehead

> Channa striata — Fish. Channa striata, the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish.

- Scientific name: *Channa striata*
- Category: `fish` (Fish)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Lakes & rivers)
- iNaturalist observations: 3868
- Wikidata: [Q686439](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q686439)
- iNaturalist taxon: [97280](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/97280)

## Names

- en: Striped Snakehead
- de: Quergestreifter Schlangenkopf
- es: Cabeza de serpiente asiático
- fr: Tête-de-serpent rayé
- pl: Żmijogłów paskowany

## Countries with the most observations

TW (950), SG (822), TH (447), ID (209), IN (174), MY (174), HK (156), VN (74), MO (45), KH (27), CN (26), LK (26)

## Summary

Channa striata, the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, or snakehead murrel and generally referred simply as mudfish. It is native to South and Southeast Asia, and has been introduced to some Pacific Islands. Reports from Madagascar and Hawaii are misidentifications of C. maculata.
A genetic study published in 2017 indicates that C. striata is a species complex.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channa_striata

## Photo

![Striped Snakehead](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/striped-snakehead/medium.jpg)

Photo: Manis Lin · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/320972250

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/striped-snakehead?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).