Anabas testudineus
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Anabantidae (Climbing Gouramies)
Anabas
Anabas testudineus
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Color in life dark to pale greenish, very pale below, back dusky to olive; head with longitudinal stripes ventrally; posterior margin of opercle with a dark spot; iris golden reddish. Body form variable, affected by age and amount of food consumed. Scaled head with 4-5 rows between eye and rear margin of preoperculum. Scales large and regularly arranged, ciliate. Striking features: none.
Distribution
Asia: India to Wallace line including China. May have been distributed in more areas than were commonly reported.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater, brackish. demersal. Found in: streams, lakes, estuaries, marshes/swamps.
Biology
Found mostly in canals, lakes, ponds, swamps and estuaries (Ref. 41236, 57235). Adults occur in medium to large rivers, brooks, flooded fields and stagnant water bodies including sluggish flowing canals (Ref. 12975). Often found in areas with dense vegetation (Ref. 12693). Can tolerate extremely unfavorable water conditions and is associated mainly with turbid, stagnant waters (Ref. 6028). They remain buried under the mud during dry season (Ref. 1479). Feed on macrophytic vegetation, shrimps and fish fry (Ref. 6028). Reported to undertake lateral migration from the Mekong mainstream, or other permanent water bodies, to flooded areas during the flood season and return to the permanent water bodies at the onset of the dry season (Ref. 37770). During the dry season, they stay in pools associated with submerged woods and shrubs (Ref. 37770). Posses an accessory air-breathing organ (Ref. 2847). Able to survive for several days or weeks out of water if the air breathing organs can be kept moist (Ref. 1479). Quite famous for its ability to walk; important food fish in SE Asia, considered as a tasty food fish (Ref. 6565) but not of the finest quality since it is bony (Ref. 2686). Usually sold live in markets where it is kept alive for several days by keeping it moist (Ref. 12693). Economic foodfish in the Southeast Asia (Ref. 57235).
Max length: 25.0 cm TL; common length: 12.5 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (clutch tenders). Guards eggs at the surface of hypoxic waters (Ref. 7471).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2019-08-10. Resilience: High (Assuming tm=1; K=1.4; Fec=40,000-80,000).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Allen, G.R. (1991) Field guide to the freshwater fishes of New Guinea. Publication, no. 9. 268 p. Christensen Research Institute, Madang, Papua New Guinea.
Herre, A.W.C.T. (1924) Distribution of the true freshwater fishes in the Philippines. II. Philippine Labyrinthici, Clariidae, and Siluridae. Philipp. J. Sci. 24(6):683-709.
Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991) Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Volume 2. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, i-xxii + 543-1158, 1 pl.
Balon, E.K. (1990) Epigenesis of an epigeneticist: the development of some alternative concepts on the early ontogeny and evolution of fishes. Guelph Ichthyol. Rev. 1:1-48.
Rainboth, W.J. (1996) Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO species identification field guide for fishery purposes. FAO, Rome, 265 p.
Talde, C.M., A.C. Mamaril and M.L.D. Palomares (2004) The diet composition of some economically important fishes in the three floodplain lakes in Agusan Marsh wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines. Sri Lanka J. Aquat. Sci 9:45-56.
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