Abstract
Channa pardalis, a new species of snakehead, is described from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India. This species can be distinguished from its congeners by a unique colour pattern consisting of numerous large black spots on the post-orbital region of the head, opercle and body; a broad white and black margin to the dorsal, anal and caudal fins; 36–37 dorsal fin rays; 24–25 anal fin rays; 44–45 pored scales on the body and two scales on the caudal fin base; 4½ scales above lateral line and 6½ scales below lateral line; 45 vertebrae and the palatine with two rows of teeth: outer row with numerous minute teeth and inner row with short, stout inward curved teeth.
Highlights
IntroductionA new species of snakehead, is described from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India
Channa pardalis, a new species of snakehead, is described from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India
I had an opportunity to examine a colourful species of Channa from the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India, with large well-defined black spots on post-orbital region of the head, opercle and body
Summary
A new species of snakehead, is described from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India. Snakeheads of the family Channidae are characterized by accessory air-breathing organs, which are modified expanded epibranchials situated in the suprabranchial cavity in the head (Liem 1980) These fish are distributed in tropical Africa, parts of the Middle East and Asia, and inhabit a wide variety of freshwater habitats ranging from hill streams to derelict swamps (Geetakumari & Vishwanath 2011). I had an opportunity to examine a colourful species of Channa from the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India, with large well-defined black spots on post-orbital region of the head, opercle and body. Detailed comparison with topotypic C. stewartii revealed that this was a species hitherto unknown to science, which is described as Channa pardalis sp. nov
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