Given its wide natural range it seems logical that this species is or has been available in the aquarium trade, although its correct name may never have been applied.

It is told apart from congeners by the following combination of characters: two pairs of barbels; a continuous midlateral stripe from the tip of the snout to the base of the caudal-fin, with a conspicuous small blotch at the posterior extremity, faintly marked on the caudal-fin; a faint mark between the anus and the anal-fin origin in juveniles; a narrow mouth.

The genus Amblypharyngodon currently contains five valid species, and A. chulabhornae can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: 42-50 (vs. 50-79) scales in the lateral row; lateral line incomplete with 6-7 (vs. 7-23) perforated scales; 4-5 scales on a transverse row between the lateral line and pelvic-fin base. All members of the genus lack barbels.

Appears to have a disjunct range with records from Pahang state in central Peninsular Malaysia, plus the Mae Klong and Chao Phraya river systems in Thailand, but it has not been recorded in Peninsular Thailand.

Type locality is ‘Pahang River, Kuala Tembeling, eastern slope of Sangka Dua Pass, Malaysia, elevation about 2000 feet’.

This species is also referred to as ‘clown knifefish’ in the aquarium trade. It arguably has no place in the ornamental hobby given its adult size and specialised requirements but remains inexplicably popular and an albino form has even been line-bred for the purpose.

It can be distinguished from all congeners by presence of one or more rows of large ocellated spots above the base of the anal-fin, but…

This species is not collected for the aquarium trade at time of writing.

In contrast to other members of the genus older juvenile and adult individuals lack dark markings on the body while the jaw is more pronounced.

This species is also referred to as ‘giant’, ‘great’, ‘cobra’, or ‘Indian’ snakehead.

Although currently-considered to be distributed throughout much of southern Asia it is widely-accepted to represent a complex of related species in need of additional research.

A number of geographical variants exhibiting diffe…

Prefers a dimly-lit aquarium with plenty of cover in the form of live plants, driftwood branches, terracotta pipes, plant pots, etc., arranged to form a network of nooks, crannies, and shaded spots.

Surface vegetation such as Ceratopteris spp. is also appreciated and makes the fish less inclined to conceal themselves.

O. dogarsinghi and O. bernatziki are the only two Southeast Asian congeners to possess a large blotch at the caudal-fin base but in the former the blotch is vertically-orientated and hardly extends onto the fin itself (vs. laterally-elongate and extending onto the basal fin rays) and long (vs. short) barbels, while th…

Type locality is ‘Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia’, but this species is widely-distributed throughout much of Southeast Asia including major river systems in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Peninsular Malaysia plus the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java.

It’s been extensively recorded from the Mekong, Cha…

During collections of the type series stream width was found to vary seasonally but was never wider than 9.1 metres. Water depth was 10-40 cm, flow rate 20-70 cm/s−1, and substrates comprised small to medium-sized rocks.

Water temperature was seasonally variable but always within the range 20-26°C/68-78.8°F, pH was 6.5-7.9, oxygen 7.4-8.5 mg/l−1, ammonia, nitrate and total iron were 0.01, < 0.03 and < 0.5 mg/l−1, respectively, and alkalinity was aro...