Anabas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of freshwater fish known for its ability to breathe air and move on land using its pectoral fins; also any member of the genus characterized by these adaptations; fish commonly found in slow-moving or stagnant waters in Asia and Africa
2. A member of a group of labyrinth fish capable of surviving in low-oxygen waters by gulping air; species from the genus noted for terrestrial locomotion abilities using fins; inhabit freshwater ecosystems often in tropical regions
3. An aquatic species with specialized respiratory organs allowing atmospheric oxygen intake; belonging to a genus distinctive for amphibious movement; typically residing in warm freshwater habitats with stagnant or oxygen-poor conditions

Etymology: Anabas is the scientific name of the climbing perch, and it comes from Greek. The genus name was coined by the Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål... Let me be careful here: the genus name was established by Cuvier in 1817 (Georges Cuvier, in the Règne Animal), and the name is built from Greek "anabas," the participle of "anabainein," meaning "to go up" or "to mount," from "ana-" ("up") and "bainein" ("to go" or "to step"). The name fits the fish's most famous habit. Climbing perch can leave the water and crawl across wet ground, sometimes over land between ponds, using their gill covers and spiny pectoral fins to haul themselves forward. Their labyrinth organ, a folded air-breathing chamber above the gills, lets them survive in oxygen-poor water and out of it for hours. Cuvier chose a name describing the fish's behaviour, rather than its anatomy alone, which was a fitting label for an animal that seems to refuse to stay in its element.

Synonyms: climbing perch