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Clarias batrachus

(Toyman's spotted catfish)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Assamese:

Magur, Mahgur

Common Names in Bahasa Indonesia:

Lele

Common Names in Banton:

Pantat

Common Names in Batak:

Sibahut, Tingkalang

Common Names in Bengali:

koi, Magur, Mah-gur, Mahgur, কৈ, মাগুড়

Common Names in Bikol:

Hito

Common Names in Burmese:

Nga-khoo

Common Names in Danish:

Vandremalle

Common Names in English:

Albino Pristella, Albino walking fish, clarias catfish, Climbing perch, Freshwater catfish, Ito, Magur, Pa douk, Philippine catfish, Thai hito, Thailand catfish, Toyman's spotted catfish, Walking catfish

Common Names in Finnish:

Konnamonni

Common Names in German:

Froschwels, Wanderwels

Common Names in Hindi:

Mangri, Mangur, Manguri, Wagur, मंगरी

Common Names in Ilokano:

Paltat

Common Names in Javanese:

Leleh

Common Names in Kannada:

Halimeena

Common Names in Kapampangan:

Ito

Common Names in Khasi:

Khamagur

Common Names in Khmer:

Andeng, Trey And, Trey andaing roueng, Trey Andêng, Trey AndÍng

Common Names in Kuyunon:

Kawatsi

Common Names in Lao:

Pa douk

Common Names in Laotian:

Pa douk

Common Names in Malay:

Ikan keling, Ikan lele, Kali, Keli, Leleh

Common Names in Malayalam:

Mazhu, Musi, Muzhi, Valay, Yeri, Yerivahlay, ഏരിവാള, യെരിവാളൈ , യെരിവാളൈ  

Common Names in Mandarin Chinese:

斑紋鬍鯰, 斑纹胡鲶, 蟾胡鲶(引进), 蟾鬍鯰(引進)

Common Names in Manipuri:

Ngakra, Nya-Hara

Common Names in Marathi:

Magur

Common Names in Nepalese:

Mungri

Common Names in Nepali:

Mungri

Common Names in Oriya:

Magurah, Maguro

Common Names in Pangasinan:

Pantat

Common Names in Punjabi:

Kug-ga, Kugga, ਕੁਘਾ, ਫਲ਼ੀ

Common Names in Russian:

Klarievyi som, сом клариевый, сом обыкновенный длинноперый

Common Names in Swedish:

Ålmal, Asiatisk Vandrarmal

Common Names in Tagalog:

Alimudan, Hito, Hitong batukan, Pantat

Common Names in Tamil:

Karupputheli, Masarai, மசரை, மாசறை 

Common Names in Telugu:

Marpoo, Marpulu, మారపు

Common Names in Thai:

Pla duk, Pla duk dam, Pla duk dan, Pla duk nam jued, Pla duk nam juend, ปลาดุก, ปลาดุกด้าน, ปลาดุกน้ำจืด

Common Names in Toba, Batak:

Sibahut, Tingkalang

Common Names in Vietnamese:

Cá trê tráng, Cá trèn trang, Cá trÍ tráng

Common Names in Visayan:

Alimudan

Description

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Physical Description

Species Clarias batrachus

Distinctive Features: Walking catfish are typically a uniform shade of gray or gray-brown with many minute white spots laterally. The head is flat and broad and the body tapers to the tail in a manner that calls to mind the shape of a slender tadpole . The mouth is broad, although the gape is not great. The lips are fleshy , the upper more so than the lower. The walking catfish possesses very small eyes, a lengthy dorsal and anal fin that each terminate in a lobe near but free from the caudal fin, and pectoral fins with rigid spine-like elements , one each at the fore. It is through the use of these stiff pectoral "spines" accompanied by a back and forth flexion of the body that walking catfish accomplish their ungainly but effective terrestrial locomotion. The walking catfish may be easily distinguished from many of the North American Ictalurid catfishes in that the walking catfish lacks an adipose fin .

An internal feature of the walking catfish that is of considerable note with regard to its ability to traverse short stretches of land is the suprabranchial arborescent organ . An extension of the apparatus that supports the fish's gill filaments, this structure facilitates the uptake of atmospheric oxygen by providing support for a number of gill filaments that would otherwise collapse in the absence of the buoyancy of water. In essence, this accessory air-breathing organ functions much like a lung. The branching appearance of this organ, reminiscent of a small tree , is the basis for the name "arborescent" organ.

Dentition: Numerous small pointed teeth occur in large bands on both the upper and lower jaw of the walking catfish. The arrangement of teeth is reported to vary somewhat in adults .

Color:

Although most individuals are gray or gray-brown with small white spots as described above, an albino was once popular with aquarists and calico morphs are known. Aberrantly colored walking catfish, conspicuous to predators , are uncommon in the wild.

Size/Age/Growth

Reproductively mature at one year of age, this species is reported to reach a length of 61cm (24 inches) in its native range , although the largest individuals in South Florida rarely exceed 36cm (14 inches). Overall, little is known regarding the age and growth of this species. Males are commonly 26 cm (Total Length) in length when caught/marketed, but may be as large as 47 cm (Total Length).

Habitat

Inhabits swamps , ponds , ditches, rice paddies, and pools left in low spots after rivers have been in flood[1]. Usually confined to stagnant , muddy water[2]. Found in medium to large-sized rivers, flooded fields and stagnant water bodies including sluggish flowing canals[3]. Undertakes lateral migrations from the Mekong mainstream , or other permanent water bodies, to flooded areas during the flood season and returns to the permanent water bodies at the onset of the dry season[4]. Can live out of water for quite sometime and move short distances over land [5]. Can walk and leave the water to migrate to other water bodies using its auxiliary breathing organs.

Typically found in a lake at a mean distance from sea level of 73 meters (241 feet).[6]

Ecology: Inhabits lowland fresh and brackish waters; rivers , lakes , ponds and reservoirs . This species has a short spawning period during July-August, coinciding with the south-west monsoons. Also breeds in confined waters of ponds and tanks . Often migrates to nearby inundated pools and puddles for breeding during rainy season . Inundated paddy fields are most preferred spawning grounds .

This catfish is abundant in ponds and rivers, and in the mud they lie concealed for hours. Found in all types of waters but more so in derelict and swampy waters. It can live out of water for quite sometime and move short distances over land as it has an accessory respiratory organ .[7].

List of Habitats :

Biology

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Diet

Walking catfish are benthic omnivores , industrious in their search for food. A nocturnal species, walking catfish search the bottom with their barbels vigorously sifting through detritus and soft substrates. A true generalist , walking catfish consume a wide variety of prey , including eggs or larvae of other fishes , small fishes, and a number of invertebrate taxa such as annelids , crustaceans, and insects. Given these somewhat indiscriminate feeding habits, it is not unusual to find a fair amount of detritus or plant matter in the gut this species. In densely populated drying pools , walking catfish are particularly indiscriminate in their choice of prey items, often seizing and consuming a wider variety of prey than what may normally be available.

Reproduction

Walking catfish construct nests made of detritus or submerged vegetation . The male guards the adhesive eggs and free-swimming young. In the native range of the walking catfish, spawning is coincident with the onset of the rainy season during which the species may construct nests in the flooded environs. A strong correlation between spawning and the wet season appears to be true for the non-native populations of walking catfishes in South Florida as well.

The following is an observation of the reproduction process of a pair of 38cm walking catfish in a 700 litre aquarium . The breeding pair dig a hollow, which has a diameter of approximately 30cms -about 38cms. On the day of reproduction courting reaches a turbulent level. The animals mate over many hours; thirty, maybe forty times, initially without any eggs delivered. Reproduction dragged on over 20 hours. During mating, the female pushes her head against the center of the male’s body, actually pressing her partner into a u-shape. Throughout this time the pair do not tolerate any other fish in proximity to the nest. Eggs soon after delivary drop to the substrate and remain stuck there. Several hundred to a thousand eggs are laid and one can expect even higher numbers from fully-grown pairs. After the female has laid all her eggs, she seems to avoid the nest, but secures the outer perimeter of the nest and, subsequent to the final spawning activity, the male takes sole responsibility of directly guarding the nest. At 25° C the embryos hatch after approximately 30 hours. During this phase , defence of the nest once more becomes heightened in both partners, with division of responsibilities as before. After a further two days both partners’ defensive vigour weakens, a further three days, the fry, now with barbles visible to the naked eye, swim freely. The walking catfish pair spawned four times within the period of only five months! More details are available at http://www.planetcatfish.com/shanesworld/s_r_249.php (Ros, 2004c).

In southeast Asia, spawning period is during the rainy season, when rivers rise and fish are able to excavate nests in submerged mud banks and dikes of flooded rice fields (Fishbase, 2003).

Migration

Potamodromous .

Behavior

Predators:

For humans, an important food fish that is marketed live, fresh and frozen.

Walking catfish of all ages and size classes fall victim to a wide variety of predators including other fishes , reptiles , birds, and mammals. Wading birds are particularly adept at exploiting walking catfishes "stranded" in shallow drying pools and other evaporating water bodies. Introduced walking catfish in South Florida face at least one other source of mortality . From time to time, walking catfish may be seen migrating en masse from water body to water body, often traversing busy South Florida roads in the process . Such migrations take place most often on rainy nights, as the cool moist conditions reduce the risk of desiccation and abrasion . Nonetheless, scores of individual walking catfish are often killed during these movements by automobile traffic. Sections of roads such as U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail ) can actually become hazardously slick with the crushed bodies of walking catfish.

Parasites:

Enteric septicemia of catfish or "ESC" has been reported for walking catfish. Caused by the bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri, this disease is of considerable concern to North American commercial catfish operations. Fortunately, most such operations are maintained outside the introduced range of the walking catfish, greatly reducing the possibility of wild walking catfishes infecting the farmed fishes , at least in North America.

Taxonomy

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Last Revised: 7/14/2012