Channa striatus

Channa striata, the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead and snakehead murrel. 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. It grows up to a meter in length, though because of fishing, this size is rarely found in the wild. It has a widespread range covering southern China, Pakistan, most of India, southern Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and most of Southeast Asia. It has more recently been introduced to the outermost parts of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mauritius. Reports beginning in the early 20th century that it was introduced into the wild in Hawaii, particularly the island of Oahu, as well as later reports from Madagascar, are the result of misidentifications of C. maculata. The only currently confirmed Hawaiian establishment of C. striata is on a commercial fish farm. Popular media and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service were perpetuating this apparent mistake as recently as 2002. Early- to mid-20th century reports and texts referring to its introduction in California appear to be the result of a misunderstanding.