Climbing perch (Anabas testudineus) is a freshwater, brackish species recorded in Malaysia. It is mainly found over mud.
Scientific name: Anabas testudineus · Water: Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 25 cm
The climbing perch is a small freshwater anabantid with an oval, grey-green, black-blotched body and spiny plates on the head and gill covers, and its labyrinth organ lets it breathe air directly — it can survive days or even weeks out of water if kept moist, and in the dry season it burrows into the mud. Malaysian paddy fields, irrigation canals, disused mining pools and swamps are its home ground, and it is extremely common in the MADA rice area of Kedah, in Perak and Selangor, and in Sarawak's drains and ponds. Malaysians call it ikan puyu, and it is one of the most familiar kampung fried fish. Fishing for it is as simple as it gets: a short rod, a float, a tiny hook and a worm or bit of prawn fished close to the bank — the easiest success a beginner or a child can have.
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