The snakehead family has been experiencing a quiet boom in recent years. The reason for its popularity is probably the fact that new faces with attractive colors are imported from India and Myanmar. In the case of aquarium fish, there is little excitement in the genre, where only certain standard species are imported, perhaps because people are getting tired of it. On the other hand, genres that introduce new types little by little seem to have many enthusiasts who maintain their interest because they never get tired of them. In Germany and other countries, there are many enthusiasts who have been chasing their favorite fish species for decades. However, looking at the situation in Japan, it seems that there are few enthusiasts who remain interested in the same group for many years. It would be easy to dismiss this as a matter of national character, but it is probably due to vastly different interests and approaches to fish.

This topic has gone sideways, but it seems that recently there has been an increase in the number of enthusiasts in Japan who only collect snake heads. The reason for this is probably that the number of types is neither too small nor too large, making them highly collectible. In addition to wild species, artificially improved species such as albino and platinum also occasionally appear.
There are a variety of species, from large species such as the red snakehead to small species such as the dwarf snakehead, but the small, colorful species represented by the rainbow snakehead are especially popular. . Considering the housing situation in Japan, large aquariums are required to raise large species, so it is natural that small species are more popular.

Among these small species, the dwarf snakehead has been popular for a long time. Previously known by its scientific name Channa gachua, the Thai variety has recently been identified as Channa limbata. I don't know the history behind this because I'm not very knowledgeable about it, but I'd like to explain it in this corner when I look into it someday.

This dwarf snakehead. It has a very wide distribution. As far as I know, they live in most parts of Thailand from north to south. Unlike plachon, which live in still ponds, swamps, and wetlands, this species lives in flowing rivers. They mainly inhabit mountain streams such as small streams rather than large rivers. When you are collecting fish in such an environment, it almost always ends up in your net. Perhaps because of its wide distribution, its color varies slightly depending on the river it inhabits. Recently, collected specimens with distinct localities have become available, so it may be fun to collect color variations.

Since it is a small species, it does not require a large aquarium for breeding. Since they do not move around much, they can be kept in a basic 60cm aquarium. Compared to other snakeheads, they are not strongly fish-eating, and in captivity they like to eat frozen red beetles and artificial feed, so they don't require much effort. In particular, if you feed them artificial feed for color development, the orange lines on their dorsal fins and body color will become beautiful. When they are young, they are ordinary fish, but as you keep them, you will enjoy watching them transform into beautiful shapes. They are not particularly picky about water quality and are easy to raise, but there is one thing to keep in mind. They have quite strong jumping power, so be careful not to jump out of the tank. Most enthusiasts have probably had the experience of jumping out and drying a fish. Care must be taken, such as placing a weight on the lid of the aquarium.

This time, I was able to see two color mutant individuals of this dwarf snakehead at a shipper in Thailand. I have seen many species of this species, but I have never seen such color variation. It can be said that it is extremely valuable.
The first one is an individual with a whitish body that seems to be an albino. Instead of the red or ruby-colored eyes characteristic of albino people, the surface of the eyeballs are white. The eyes often turn white like this when the pH drops too much, but this seems to be a characteristic of the individual, not a disease. Although their eyesight is weak, they seem to be able to see clearly, and they eat their food properly. The whole body has a whitish color characteristic of albino fish, but the characteristic coloring of the dwarf snakehead remains faintly and is beautiful. The specimen is about 20cm in size, and is said to be a wild specimen collected in a place called Nan in northern Thailand. In the natural world, individuals with such striking colors often survive to grow to this size.

The other one appears to have transparent scales, and its entire body is whitish with irregular black markings. This specimen was also collected in a place called Nan in northern Thailand. When they first arrived, they were all white, but as they were kept in captivity, the black pigment increased. It is a very unusual coincidence that two individuals with such color variation are found in the same collection location. Is there some kind of genetic factor lurking in this region that makes this type of color variation more likely?

These two individuals are completely different in personality. Whiteeye individuals swim relatively actively. That's why it wasn't that difficult to shoot. On the other hand, individuals with transparent scales are extremely nervous and remain motionless on the bottom of the water. It's very easy to take pictures because it doesn't move, but it doesn't pose any movement, so it's not very interesting in terms of pictures. I waited for several hours in front of the aquarium holding my camera, hoping that it would swim someday, but it did not move at all. We waited for several days, but it was impossible to photograph them swimming around. Please forgive me if the photos I am introducing are not interesting.

In Thailand, in addition to these color variations of the dwarf snakehead, platinum individuals of the red snakehead have also recently been introduced. As its popularity increases, individuals with color variations like this will likely be imported. We would like to breed these precious individuals and preserve their valuable genes. There are examples of dwarf snakeheads breeding in aquariums, so I would definitely like to try it.