in zoology, the name of a fish caught in great plenty in the Mediterranean, and brought to market in Italy and elsewhere, among the sea-perch, which it so nearly resembles, that it would not be distinguishable from it, but that the sea-perch is bigger, and has only broad transverse lines on its back, whereas the channa has both transverse and longitudinal. It has a very wide mouth, and its lower jaw is longer than its upper; so that its mouth naturally falls open. Its eyes are small, and its teeth very sharp: its back is of a blackish red: it has several longitudinal lines of a reddish hue, and its tail is marked with reddish spots. There is an observation, that in all the fish of this kind which have been examined by naturalists, there have been found none but females. This is as old as the days of Aristotle. Whether this be true in fact, would require many observations. If it should prove so, the whole seems to end in this, that the channa is no distinct species, but only the female of some other fish. There is another fish not unlike this, called cannadella, or rather cannadella, which at Marfeilles is known by the name of charina.