FishfreshwaterDemanding

Blue dwarf snakehead

A small blue-and-orange snakehead from a restricted area of West Bengal wetland, described only in 2013. At around fifteen centimetres it is among the most keepable of the genus and among the most attractive.

Quick profile

Scientific name: Channa andrao
Adult size: 12–16 cm (4.7–6.3 in)
Lifespan: 8–12 years
Temperature: 16–26 °C (61–79 °F)
pH: 5.5–7.2
Hardness: 1–10 °dGH
Minimum tank: 150 L (40 US gal)
Minimum length: 100 cm
Swimming zone: Bottom
Social: Pair
Diet: Carnivore
Overall confidence: moderate confidence

What keeping this species involves

The smallest of the commonly available snakeheads and still a pair-bonding predator needing a sealed tank, a cool season and no small tankmates.

Shallow shaded swamp with dense vegetation and soft acidic water, cooling in winter.

Identity and names

Common name: Blue dwarf snakehead
Scientific name: Channa andrao
Family: Channidae
Order: Anabantiformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Also sold as: Channa andrao, Andrao snakehead, blue bleheri

Name ambiguity

Described in 2013 and separated from Channa bleheri, with which it had been confused in the trade. Fish sold as blue bleheri before that date were frequently this species.

Adult size and growth

12–16 cm (4.7–6.3 in)

Typical lifespan in an aquarium: 8–12 years. Almost every animal sold in a shop is a juvenile, so the tank has to suit the size in the first line rather than the size in the bag.

Shape, which is what the compatibility engine reads instead of length alone: elongate with a large — a piscivore's mouth. As the rainbow snakehead.

Water and tank requirements

A pair of ambush predators holding separate refuges. Floor area and cover decide whether the pair settles.

Temperature (°C)

Blue dwarf snakehead

16–26

Scale: 0 to 36 °C.

pH (pH)

Blue dwarf snakehead

5.5–7.2

Scale: 4 to 9.5 pH.

Hardness (°dGH)

Blue dwarf snakehead

1–10

Scale: 0 to 30 °dGH.

The bands AquariumHQ publishes for the blue dwarf snakehead, each drawn against the full range this catalogue uses for that parameter. A narrow band on a wide scale is a specialist; a wide one is a genuinely tolerant animal. Source: AquariumHQ husbandry position for this record — an editorial range, not a measurement

Why these ranges: West Bengal swamp water, soft and acidic, with a marked cool season. The low end of the band is the species' winter and is associated with breeding condition; it is a genuine part of the annual cycle rather than an endurance limit.

Where these figures come from

Habitat class

Soft forest stream

Shaded, mineral-poor running water under forest canopy, with leaf litter and moderate tannin loading but without true blackwater chemistry.

The commonest habitat class in the aquarium trade and the one the conventional community-tank setting actually fits. Soft and slightly acidic, without the extremes that make blackwater difficult.

Conductivity: 20–120 µS/cm
Flow: low
Dissolved oxygen: moderate
Seasonality: moderate

These are figures for the KIND of water body, not measurements of this species. They are AquariumHQ’s summary of the general limnology and are given wide because the water is.

TemperatureReasoned on this record: This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
pHReasoned on this record: This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
General hardnessReasoned on this record: This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.

Requirement	Value	Notes
Temperature	16–26 °C (61–79 °F)	Stability matters more than hitting an exact figure.
pH	5.5–7.2	A stable pH outside the ideal band is usually better than an unstable one inside it.
General hardness	1–10 °dGH	Check your supplier's published figure before choosing species.
Minimum volume	150 L (40 US gal)	A floor, not a recommendation.
Minimum footprint	100 cm long × 45 cm deep	A pair of ambush predators holding separate refuges. Floor area and cover decide whether the pair settles.
Water flow	low	Match the outflow to this rather than to the filter's rating.
Lid required	Yes	This species jumps.
Structure	Dense planting, leaf litter, wood and floating cover, with surface access and a sealed lid.

Behaviour

Hangs motionless among planting with only the head visible and strikes at close range.
Pairs remain close together and both parents accompany the fry, which is among the most developed parental care in this catalogue.

Telling males from females

Males develop stronger blue in the fins and a slimmer profile. Females are broader when in condition.

Feeding

Takes insects and small crustaceans. Frozen food is accepted readily and is a better basis than live feeders.

Diet type: Carnivore
Staples: Frozen bloodworm, Prawn, Earthworm, Frozen mysis
Avoid: Live feeder fish

Breeding

Strategy: Paternal mouthbrooding with both parents guarding the free-swimming fry
Difficulty: challenging
Parental care: mouthbrooding

Tankmates and compatibility

Assessments are derived from stored traits by the compatibility engine, with the reasoning shown. A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee — individual temperament can override it.

Risk this species poses to common tankmates
Towards	Risk	What it means
Small fish	near-certain	Anything that fits in the mouth is at risk once this species reaches adult size.
Adult dwarf shrimp	near-certain	Cover reduces losses but rarely prevents them where the risk is high.
Shrimplets	near-certain	Determines whether a shrimp colony can grow rather than merely persist.
Snails	moderate	Applies to snails you wanted as well as snails you did not.
Long or trailing fins	none	Fin damage is an entry point for secondary infection.
Plants	none	Tough species such as Anubias and Java fern survive most grazers.

Any pair in the catalogue can be assessed with the compatibility checker.

Welfare considerations

Points where the way this species is commonly sold or kept differs from what it actually needs.

Known from a very small area of wetland that is under agricultural pressure. Captive breeding is well established and is the sensible source.
Prohibited across much of North America and restricted elsewhere. Its small size does not exempt it from genus-wide listings.

Problems to watch for

Most problems in a tank containing this species are general rather than species-specific. Start with the troubleshooting index and work from the observation rather than from a guess at the cause.

What AquariumHQ does not yet hold

Species-level disease susceptibility is modelled in the graph and is not yet populated. Health pages will not be published until each condition has veterinary sourcing, because health content written without evidence is the most harmful thing this product could publish. The gap is recorded in the coverage report.

Where it comes from

Native range: India — the Lefraguri swamp in West Bengal and adjacent wetlands
Habitat: Shallow shaded swamp with dense vegetation and soft acidic water, cooling in winter.

What the checklists say

1 distribution statement retrieved from GBIF checklists. Establishment means is reproduced from the source where it states one, and left unstated where it does not — a record of presence is not a record of origin.

Status	Places	What this means
Recorded as present, establishment means not stated	1	The source records the species as present and does not say whether it is native or introduced. AquariumHQ does not fill that in.

No checklist AquariumHQ holds positively calls this species native anywhere, so the native range above rests on AquariumHQ’s own reading of the literature rather than on a cited checklist.

Legal status and responsible practice

Restriction note

Covered by the same genus-wide snakehead prohibitions that apply to its larger relatives in the United States and in several other jurisdictions. Being a dwarf species does not change the legal position where the listing names the genus.

What AquariumHQ has recorded, by jurisdiction, with the instrument each entry comes from and how far the check went. Ecological risk and legal status are separate: a species can be ecologically risky and legally unrestricted, or restricted where it could never establish.

US

Prohibitedimport

The listing covers the genera Channa and Parachanna as such, and the species list that follows is expressly 'including but not limited to'. Channa andrao was described in 2013 and is not named individually, which does not remove it from a genus-level prohibition.

Instrument: 50 CFR § 16.13(a)(2)(iv), injurious wildlife listing under 18 U.S.C. 42

This is the clearest case in the file of why the scope of a listing matters more than its species list. A species described after the instrument was written is still inside it, because the instrument names the genus.

Checked against the instrument · last checked 2026-08-29 · An editor has read the current text of the named instrument and confirmed this species' entry on the date shown.

Never release aquarium life into the wild

Aquarium animals, plants, and aquarium water must never be released into ponds, rivers, canals, drains or the sea — not even in a country where the species is sold freely. Released fish and invertebrates establish populations that displace native species, and released plants and water carry pathogens, parasites and fragments capable of spreading without any animal at all. If you can no longer keep an animal, rehome it through an aquarium society, a retailer that accepts returns, or another keeper.

Rehome through a local aquarium society, a specialist retailer or another keeper.
Unwanted plants go in household waste or a hot compost heap, never in a watercourse or a garden pond.
Never empty a bucket of tank water into a drain that discharges to open water.
If an animal is beyond rehoming, ask an aquatic veterinarian about humane euthanasia rather than releasing it.

Legal status is recorded from the sources named and was correct on the verification date shown. Rules change, and sub-national rules often differ from national ones. Check the current position with the relevant authority before acquiring, selling or moving any animal or plant.

Evidence

Every stored value with the kind of support behind it and where to check it. Evidence type and confidence are separate axes: an editorial position held confidently and a measurement held tentatively are different things.

Claim	Value	Evidence type	Confidence	Source
scientific name	Channa andrao	Observed / measured	high confidence	Catalogue of Life; GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility
native range	India — the Lefraguri swamp in West Bengal and adjacent wetlands	Observed / measured	moderate confidence	GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility
adult size	12–16 cm	Aquarium-literature consensus	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
lifespan	8–12 years	Aquarium-literature consensus	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
temperature	16–26 °C	Aquarium-literature consensus	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
ph	5.5–7.2 pH	Aquarium-literature consensus	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
general hardness	1–10 °dGH	Aquarium-literature consensus	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
minimum tank volume	≥ 150 L	AquariumHQ editorial position	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis
minimum tank length	≥ 100 cm	AquariumHQ editorial position	moderate confidence	AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis

Last reviewed 2026-08-10. Values labelled as an aquarium-literature consensus are AquariumHQ editorial positions rather than measurements — see how evidence is handled.

Why we say this

What each figure on this page rests on, and how far that is from being independently established.

Every figure on this page has a provenance. Open any claim to see what AquariumHQ holds for it, which sources say what, and what a claim of that kind actually needs. Different claims need different evidence: an accepted scientific name is settled by one authority, while a legal restriction needs a current primary instrument. A single source is often the right answer rather than a thin one.

scientific nameAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.

AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.

What this kind of claim needs: accepted scientific name and classification — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. Checked against gbif on 2026-08-29. One authoritative backbone is what this class requires.