Snakeheads (fishes of the family Channidae) are known to invest in parental care of their eggs and fry (Courtenay & Williams, 2004). In Channa lucius, both the male and female guard their young (Lee & Ng, 1994; Ng & Lim, 1990). The forest snakehead has a distinct black blotch on each operculum, and it is known to flare its opercula to face an intruder as a form of defence (Ng & Lim, 1990). When the fish is viewed from the front, the black blotch on each of the two flared gill covers resembles an eye-spot. A pair of these may function in a similar manner to eye-spots on some lepidopterans which are used to intimidate predators (Mukherjee & Kodandaramaiah, 2015). The behaviour performed by the adult fish in front of the turtle (Fig. 2; see video at 0:06–0:08, and less clearly at 0:10–0:13) appears to support this suggestion.