''Channa royi'', the Andaman emerald snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This

dwarf snakehead Dwarf snakehead is a term coined by aquarists to describe a group of ''Channa'' snakehead fishes growing to about maximum. They are found in freshwater habitats (often streams) in South and Southeast Asia, and southern China.Endruweit, M. (2017). ...

is distinct from other snakehead species due to its differing coloration, number of vertebrae, and teeth, most notably its greenish-gray dorsum. It was only

scientifically described A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

in 2018 and its closest relative is the Burmese snakehead (''C. hartcourtbutleri''), and a review in 2019 argued that the two are synonyms. If recognized as its own species, it is only known from the South, Middle, and

North Andaman North Andaman Island is the northern island of Great Andaman of the Andaman Islands. It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. the island is lying ...

islands, and is abundant in clear, slow-flowing water with rocks and little vegetation, such as ditches, ponds, and hill streams. The specific name honours the fisheries biologist Sibnarayan Dam Roy.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q60792690 Endemic fauna of the Andaman Islands royi Freshwater fish of India Fish described in 2018