Rainbow Snakehead

About

The rainbow snakehead (Channa bleheri) comes from northeastern India and is one of the more manageable members of a family that has a well-earned reputation for aggression. It stays on the smaller end for snakeheads, and its appeal lies partly in the vivid reddish-orange markings on the caudal fin and the alternating light and dark banding on the pectoral fins. Coloration that varies across wild populations, with some fish showing more blue tones and others leaning brown or reddish. Like all channids, it has a large-scaled head that gives the group their common name, and this species is one of several in the genus that lack pelvic fins entirely. It is an obligate air-breather, using paired suprabranchial chambers above the gills to extract oxygen directly from the atmosphere, so you will regularly see it surfacing for air. Keep the tank covered. Snakeheads are notorious escape artists. Young fish can sometimes be housed together, but aggression typically intensifies as they mature, and pairs that bond will drive off any other conspecifics. Despite the family reputation, C. bleheri can work in a species-specific setup or alongside larger, peaceful fish that it cannot view as a meal. It has been bred in captivity with some regularity, with both parents guarding free-floating eggs at the surface. No bubble nest involved, which sets it apart from anabantoids despite a similar spawning embrace.