Channa harcourtbutleri is a species of snakehead

Channidae

The Snakeheads are members of the freshwater perciform fish family Channidae, native to Africa and Asia. These elongated predatory fish are distinguished by a long dorsal fin, large mouth and shiny teeth. They breathe air with a suprabranchial organ, a primitive form of a labyrinth organ...

 endemic to Inle Lake

Inle Lake

Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar . It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of , and one of the highest at an altitude of...

 and surroundings in Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

. Locally called nga ohn-ma, among aquarists it is known as one of the "dwarf snakeheads

Dwarf snakeheads

Dwarf snakeheads is term coined by aquarists to describe a group of snakehead fishes growing only maximum.The following snakeheads belong to this group:*Channa bleheri*Channa burmanica*Channa gachua*Channa harcourtbutleri...

", but no significant import for aquarists is known. It is one of the smallest species of snakehead and has a length of 20 cm. The specific name honors Sir Harcourt Butler

Harcourt Butler

Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler, GCSI, GCIE, KStJ was the first governor of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh . Educated at Harrow School and Balliol College, University of Oxford, Butler entered the Indian Civil Services soon afterwards, in 1890...

, a British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 governor in the region.

This was for a long time considered to be a junior synonym of Channa gachua

Channa gachua

Channa gachua is a species of snakehead. It is a species of dwarf snakehead and has a length of . It gave its name to the aquarists' term dwarf snakeheads to denote the smaller Channa species*Channa bleheri*Channa burmanica...

. In fact, both species closely resemble each other. The article on its revalidation only mentions 3 discriminating features like the missing ocellus

Eyespot (mimicry)

An eyespot is an eye-like marking. They are found on butterflies, reptiles, birds and fish. In members of the Felidae family , the white circular markings on the backs of the ears are termed ocelli, and they are functionally similar to eyespots in other animals.Eyespots may be a form of...

 in the dorsal fin

Dorsal fin

A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...

 of juvenile Channa harcourtbutleri. It is suspected to be a mouthbrooder

Mouthbrooder

Mouthbrooding, also known as oral incubation and buccal incubation, is the care given by some groups of animals to their offspring by holding them in the mouth of the parent for extended periods of time. Although mouthbrooding is performed by a variety of different animals, most notably Darwin's...

 and eats a wide range of foods including arthropod

Arthropod

An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...

s and small fish, but unlike in some relatives no frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s.