Climbing Perch
Anabas testudineus
The adult inhabits slow-moving freshwater, marshes, ponds, canals, and seasonally flooded fields across South and Southeast Asia. It is an opportunistic predator and scavenger, eating insects, crustaceans, worms, smaller fish, and plant material. A specialized air-breathing organ lets it survive in oxygen-poor water and even travel short distances over damp land by wriggling with its body and gill covers. Its sharp opercular spines and toughness make it unusually resilient for a small freshwater fish.
- Type
- Water
- Conservation status
- LC
Growth chain
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- Climbing Perch