Channichthys is a genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Channichthyidae, the crocodile icefishes.

Channichthys was first formally described as a genus in 1844 by the Scottish naval surgeon, naturalist and Arctic explorer John Richardson when he described the unicorn icefish (Channichthys rhinoceratus) which he placed in a new monotypic genus.

[6] The species of this genus are quite similar to each other, and reliable ways of distinguishing them include the shape of their dorsal fins, gill raker count and relative eye diameter to snout length.

Channichthys icefishes may have a backwards pointing spine on the snout and small tubercles on the upper surface of the head.

[2] Channichthys icefishes are restricted to the Kerguelen-Heard region of the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean.