 Other names include xal mas (শাল মাছ) in Assamese, red snakehead, redline snakehead, and "Ikan Toman" (where "ikan" is fish in Malay and Indonesian).The young of the "Channa micropeltes" are red in color, with orange and black lateral stripes appearing after about two months.As the giant snakehead matures, it loses its stripes and redness, and instead develops a bluish-black and white pattern on its upper body.