• Scientific name: Anabas testudineus
• Synonyms: Anthias testudineus, Amphiprion testudineus, Antias testudineus, Sparus testudineus, Perca scandens, Anabas scandens, Lutjanus scandens, Sparus scandens, Amphiprion scansor, Anabas spinosus, Anabas variegatus, Anabas macrocephalus, Anabas microcephalus, Anabas trifoliatus, Anabas elongatus
• Common name: Climbing Perch
• Group: Labyrinth fishes
• Habitat: Asia; Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.
• Size: 10-12 cm, but some individuals can reach 20-25 cm in length.
• Biotope: Inhabits most of the water systems across its native range: swamps, rivers, lakes, small pits, rice paddies and even in some brackish coastal environments.
• Social behavior: Quite aggressive, not recommended for a community aquarium, as it will eat smaller fish.
• Diet: Omnivorous; Chiefly predatory in the nature, they eat small fish, insects, molluscs and some vegetative matter including algae and rice grains. In the aquarium they will accept live, frozen and even dried foods.
• Breeding: Rare in aquarium
• Tank: Minimum 150 litres
• Population: 1 pair for 200 litres
• Decoration: The substrate should be sand, and furnish the tank with some driftwood, or scattered branches to provide hiding places. Use dim lighting, or use floating plants and cover their tank well, as they are good jumpers. Leave a gap of 8-10 cm between water surface and cover. They don’t like strong water flow.
• Temperature: 15-30 °C
• pH: 5.5-8
• Hardness: 2-25 NK°
• Lifespan: 5-8 years

Description: Climbing Perch is not a popular fish in the aquarium trade but is undoubtedly interesting despite its lack of color. Because of the wide distribution, and some morphological differences there were a little confusion in the taxonomic status of this fish. Some of these have been previously described as distinct species or subspecies, but most are now considered synonymous with Anabas testudineus. Climbing Perch is a slender fish with geyish-brown body and pale silvery belly. The iris of their eye is reddish. There are also golden and albino color forms in nature.

Climbing Perch is farmed commercially in several countries as it is considered as a tasty food fish. Non-native populations are established in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea due to escapes from these fish farms. During the wet season the fish often enters flooded areas. If necessary it is able to travel across land for distances of several hundred metres with the help of its pactoral fins to find more suitable habitat when these flooded areas are drying out. Or they can survive for several weeks during dry season by remain buried under the moist mud. Anabas testudineus has the largest-sized labyrinth organ relative to body mass of all anabantids, and is often said to be the most primitive member of the family. Be very careful when handling this fish as the spines of its fins and the spines on its gill cover can cause it to get caught in nets, they will also use these spines to defend themselves.

Mature females are a little larger and noticeably plumper than males, while males have darker coloration. One of the few anabantoids that do not exhibit parental care. It is rarely-bred in aquaria without the aid of hormones but it is possible. Anabas testudineus become sexually mature at less than a year old when they are 10–12 cm in length. Males develop a reddish hue to the body, particularly on the pectoral and ventral fins during spawning, and a diamond-shaped marking also appears at their tail base. The females become thicker-bodied when full of eggs and it is easier to tell apart from the male. In nature the eggs are deposited in open water at the beginning of the rainy season, when the male wrapping itself around the female and fertilising the eggs as they are laid. Around 200 eggs are released at a time, and at the end of the spawning the number of the eggs can reach 5000. The eggs are lighter than water and rise to the surface where they float for approximately 24 hours before hatching. The fry are about 2-3 mm long and become free swimming within two days.