According to Kottelat (1990) the chief distinguishing characters for the genus are: possession of 9-18½ branched dorsal-fin rays; colour pattern without black basal caudal bar, but with an ocellus at upper base of caudal-fin; upper lip with or without several rows of papillae; lower lip with a broad median interruption and a widened, papillated pad on each side.

Known only from southern (peninsular) Thailand with the type series originating from a swamp some 83 km north of Surat Thani city, Surat Thani province. It’s been recorded at additional locations, all within the lower Tapi river drainage on the Gulf of Thailand slope of the Malay Peninsula. In the description Conway and Kottelat (2011) report the occurence of a similar-looking, possibly conspecific fish on the Andaman Sea side of the Peninsula, close to Trang province.

Recorded from numerous river basins in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Peninsular Malaysia, including the Mekong, Chao Phraya, Mae Khlong, Chanthaburi, Tapi, Golok, Terengganu, Pahang, Endau, and Muar.

Type locality is ‘Kratt, southeastern Siam’, which corresponds to modern-day Trat Province, Thailand.

The pinkish-white form of this species is among the most widely-traded aquarium fishes in the world but does not occur naturally and is in fact a leucistic variant bred specifically for ornamental purposes. The 'short-bodied' or 'balloon' variety also continues to be fashionable but under no circumstances do we recommend the purchase of these intentionally disfigured animals which tend to have much shorter life spans than the naturally-shaped fish. There also exists a less-po…

C. micropeltes is also referred to as ‘Indonesian’, ‘red’, or ‘redline’ snakehead, the latter names in reference to the appearance of juveniles which often appear in the ornamental trade despite its unsuitability for home aquaria. It is somewhat hyperbolised in the media as a fearsome, invasive “monster” fish with a reputation for killing more fish than it can eat, and even the occasional human, although in reality…