Climbing Perch

The fish that climbs trees

The Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) was discovered in 1791 in India by a Dutch naturalist called Daldorff, who found the fish 5ft up a palm tree, enjoying a trickle of water that ran down the trunk.

In addition to the fleshy gills that all bony fishes have for breathing in water, the gills of the Climbing perch have a special labyrinth organ which enables it to breathe air.

The gills of the Climbing perch are not as efficient as those of other bony fishes, so it has to rise to the surface of the water every half hour or so to gulp air.

This ability to breathe air enables it to live in water that contains little oxygen.

The Climbing perch often uses its stiff spines near the gills to climb out and ‘walk’ from one body of water to another. It can survive out of water for several days at a time.

The Tarzan of the fish world?
These fishes do not in fact climb! They are occasionally found on trees, perhaps having wriggled free from, or being dropped by, a bird that has taken them into a convenient tree to eat.