Parachanna obscura
(Günther, 1861) · speciesAt a glance
Sources9 archives
Databases and archives Parachanna obscura's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation7 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility699 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI112 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics122 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
The obscure snakehead, Parachanna obscura, is a medium-sized carnivorous fish that has an elongated shape tapered on both ends and is covered in medium circular scales (cycloid). The head, resembling a snake, is long and depressed anteriorly and covered with cycloid scales slightly larger than those scales on the body. This species is found in central Africa along the western coastline from as far north as Senegal to as far south as Zaire and into central Africa into southwest Sudan.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology2
Habitat & environment2
Uses & economy1
Other traits1
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Parachanna obscura has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Parachanna obscura carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
2n 341×GoaT · Animal Genome Size Database
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type699 records
Origin
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions10 of 17 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Royal Museum for Central Africalocation not on record | 273 |
| FishBaselocation not on record | 268 |
| Washington, US | 19 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 17 |
| Stockholm, SE | 13 |
| South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record | 8 |
| SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Münchenlocation not on record | 5 |
| Cambridge, US | 4 |
| Paris, FR | 4 |
| CASlocation not on record | 4 |
| Helsinki, FI | 2 |
| Vancouver, CA | 2 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 2 |
| Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulolocation not on record | 1 |
| Geneva, CH | 1 |
| 1 | |
| Ann Arbor, US | 1 |
Where the DNA of Parachanna obscura was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.