Walking catfish: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the walking catfish lives – recorded in 7 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Clarias batrachus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	7 countries
Continents	Asia, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Siluriformes
Family	Clariidae

Where does the walking catfish live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the walking catfish in 7 countries and territories across Asia and North America. In Indonesia, India, Philippines it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the walking catfish endangered?

The walking catfish’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the walking catfish?

The walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Siluriformes and the family Clariidae, genus Clarias. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the walking catfish

The walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) is a species of freshwater airbreathing catfish native to Southeast Asia. It is named for its ability to "walk" and wiggle across dry land, to find food or suitable environments. While it does not truly walk as most bipeds or quadrupeds do, it can use its pectoral fins to keep it upright as it makes a wiggling motion with snakelike movements to traverse land. This fish normally lives in slow-moving and often stagnant waters in ponds, swamps, streams, and rivers, as well as in flooded rice paddies, or temporary pools that may dry up. When this happens, its "walking" skill allows the fish to move to other aquatic environments. Considerable taxonomic confusion surrounds this species, and it has frequently been confused with other close relatives. One main distinction between the walking catfish and the native North American ictalurid catfish with which it is sometimes confused, is that the walking catfish lacks an adipose fin. It can survive 18 hours out of water.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Walking catfish (revision 1353444114), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q852229 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).