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.
The following snakeheads belong to this group:
Some of these are borderline dwarf snakeheads, slightly surpassing in maximum length (e.g., "C. pulchra" has been called a dwarf snakehead, but may reach ). In contrast, the smallest dwarf snakehead species are less than .
Several of these only recently received their scientific name, but were already known among aquarists before. Examples of this are "C. andrao" (described 2013, previously known as "C." sp. "Lal Cheng" or "blue bleheri"), "C. pardalis" (described 2016, previously known as "C." sp. "true blue" or "galaxy blue"), "C. quinquefasciata" (described 2018, previously known as "C." sp. "five stripe"), "C. torsaensis" (described 2018, previously known as "C." sp. "cobalt blue"), and "C. brunnea" (described 2019, previously known as "C." sp. "chocolate bleheri"). A few dwarf snakeheads that are known from the aquarium trade remain undescribed, including:
Besides their commonality of being of small size, dwarf snakeheads generally are paternal mouthbrooders (confirmed in some species, suspected in others). An exception is the free-spawning "C. bleheri" where the eggs float to the surface and the parents take care of them (no mouthbrooding).
Although several dwarf snakeheads are very close relatives, overall the group is not monophyletic. For example, the dwarfs "C. burmanica" and "C. stewartii" are phylogenetically much closer to the large "C. barca" (up to ) than they are to the dwarfs "C. ornatipinnis", "C. pulchra" and "C. stiktos".