Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus)
The Climbing Perch or Anabas testudineus is an evolutionary marvel that has the ability to not only walk on land, but survive OUTSIDE the water for 24 hours! Like the Mudskipper, this freshwater fish will actually crawl across land looking for a new place to live during the dry season. The Climbing Perch moves by flexing its tail, and usings its fins to prop itself up. These fish have even been seen climbing up trees!
These oddities of nature have been shown off to the public in aquarium for years. They are also used as a portable food source to people, just think about it, these fish can actually survive outside of water for long periods of time. A simple container with wet grass can house these fish fresh, and alive for quite some time.
Contrary to their common name the Climbing Perch is not a Perch at all, they actually belong to the family Anabantidae. They can tolerate terrible water conditions and a great variation in temperatures. Anywhere from 18-30 degrees Celsius is acceptable. Make sure to keep a tight lid, they are know to jump right out of the tank! You can check out the Climbing Perch in the video below...
This species will grow to about 25cm in maximum length. You can tell the males from the females by their brighter coloration. When they spawn these fish will lay an extreme number of eggs, so if by chance you get them to breed in an aquarium you need to separate them into new tanks fairly quickly.
If you have additional information about the Climbing Perch please share...
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