There's a dwarf snakehead fish that lives in the Eastern Himalayas, and it walks upon the earth.
The Channa andrao snakehead, which breathes atmospheric air and can live on land for four days at a time, is one of more than 200 species discovered between 2009 and 2014, as detailed in a report this month by the World Wildlife Federation.
An average of 34 new species were discovered every year since 2009 in the Eastern Himalayan region, which includes Bhutan, northeastern India, Nepal, northern Myanmar and southern Tibet. The WWF report also highlights the precarious standing of these species; just 25 percent of the region's original habitats remain, due to development. Poaching, overgrazing and the wildlife trade also threaten species, according to the report.
"The challenge is to preserve our threatened ecosystems before these species, and others yet unknown are lost," Sami Tornikoski of WWF Living Himalayas Initiative said in a statement.
A total of 26 fish were found in recent years. The dwarf snakehead fish, native to West Bengal's Lefraguri swamp, comes in a vibrant blue and "walks" in a cumbersome way -- nothing like the smooth movements of a slithering snake. These primitive creatures lack pelvic fins, and members of the Channa genus of snakeheads can grow up to nearly 4 feet long. Females can release up to 15,000 eggs at a time, according to the report.
