The walking catfish, Clarias batrachus, hails from Thailand, where it goes under the less-catchy title of Pla duk dam (dull colored wriggling-fish). This walking catfish is indeed capable of leaving water to travel across dry land, which gives it a huge advantage over local fish who can’t escape pools and ponds that are drying out. Additionally, the catfish is able to eat the tadpoles, insect larvae, and crayfish which live in seasonal pools and would ordinarily escape from fish predation. In many ways it is analogous to snapping turtles and water tigers.
The catfish has spread across South East Asia, India, Australia, and the Middle East. It showed up in Florida in the 1960s (probably looking for a party). Sometimes floods bring the catfish out of the storm sewers where they live and residents are shocked to find their gardens filled with writhing mustachioed fish. They are successful despite the perils of living in populated areas: route 41 occasionally becomes dangerously slippery because of all the smashed catfish.
Although his catfishy head does look a bit insect-like, I find the walking catfish curiously endearing. But don’t be taken in by his riverboat-gambler good looks! The walking catfish (and all other members of the family Clariidae) have fallen afoul of the Feds. They are classified as injurious wildlife and it is illegal to harbour them. Some Floridians even devour them on sight, as in this picture which illustrates how society is protected by a thin blue line heron.
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November 25, 2010 at 5:28 AM
Amazing Walking Fish | Our world - animals, beautiful nature, techics, hi-tech, auto, national geographic, discovery
[…] Walking Catfish often use their marginal air-breathing abilities to escape seasonal or temporary ponds that are in the process of drying up. They also take advantage of very rainy conditions to expand their range – sometimes using flooded streets or highways to do so, to both their own and drivers’ disadvantage. […]
October 14, 2011 at 1:06 AM
Dillon
they’re illegal? damn…I really wanted one…
October 14, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Hieronymo
Well, i am not a lawyer and can’t give you legal counsel, but I know that the pet trade sold these for years. I am pretty sure that a swat team would not bust down your door if you responsibly kept your catfish friend in an aquarium and didn’t throw him in the local canal (or walk him around on a leash). I don’t know if anyone sells them anymore though.
January 26, 2012 at 2:57 PM
Julie
This is a good book on the reptile trade and developing laws:
Stolen World: A Tale of Reptiles, Smugglers, and Skulduggery. Skimmed through the end, but interesting and at times funny/horrifying.
January 27, 2012 at 5:46 PM
Wayne
Thanks for the recommendation!
June 9, 2013 at 6:00 AM
Healthy Living Style
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