The Anabantidae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Anabantiformes The Anabantiformes , is an Order (biology), order of bony fish (Teleostei) proposed in 2009. They are collectively known as labyrinth fish, are an Order (biology), order of air-breathing freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish with three sub ...

commonly called the climbing gouramies or climbing perches. The family includes about 34

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

. As labyrinth fishes, they possess a

labyrinth organ The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or la ...

, a structure in the fish's head which allows it to breathe atmospheric

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

. Fish of this family are commonly seen gulping at air at the surface of the water. The air is held in a structure called the suprabranchial chamber, where oxygen diffuses into the bloodstream via the

respiratory epithelium Respiratory epithelium, or airway epithelium, is ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium a type of columnar epithelium found lining most of the respiratory tract as respiratory mucosa, where it serves to moisten and protect the airways ...

covering the labyrinth organ. This therefore allows the fish to move small distances across land.

Genera

There are four extant

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

within the family Anabantidae: * ''

Anabas ''Anabas'' is a genus of climbing gouramies native to southern and eastern Asia. In the wild, ''Anabas'' species grow up to long. They inhabit both brackish and fresh water. ''Anabas'' species possess a labyrinth organ, a structure in the fish' ...

'' Cloquet, 1816 * '' Ctenopoma'' Peters, 1844 * ''

Microctenopoma ''Microctenopoma'' is a genus of fish in the Anabantidae (climbing gourami) family. They are native to Africa. ''Microctenopoma'' has been included in '' Ctenopoma'' in the past; unlike that genus, they are bubblenest builders, and the males def ...

'' Norris, 1995 * ''

Sandelia ''Sandelia'' is a genus of climbing gouramies native to freshwater habitats in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Afri ...

'' ( Castelnau, 1861) There is also at least one extinct genus known: * †''

Eoanabas ''Eoanabas'' ("dawn '' Anabas''") is an extinct genus of climbing gourami that inhabited southern Asia during the Oligocene. It contains a single species, ''E. thibetana'' from the Late Oligocene of Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greate ...

'' Wu, Chang, Miao ''et al'', 2016 Of the four genera, ''

'' are the only climbing gouramies found in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

. They are widely distributed and are found in countries including

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Climbing gouramies have distinct names in numerous South Asian languages. In

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, they are பனையேறி கெண்டை (''panaieri kendai''); in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, ''chemballi''; in Odia, they are କଉ ମାଛ (''kau''); in Assamese they are কাৱৈ মাছ (''kawoi maas''); in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, they are কই মাছ (''koi mach''). The remaining three genera are endemic to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

: ''Ctenopoma'' and ''Microctenopoma'' are primarily found in the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

, whereas ''Sandelia'' are endemic to the

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

and

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

s of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Anabantidae are primarily

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

and only very rarely are found in

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water. Parental care is varied; ''Anabas'' and ''Ctenopoma'' do not tend their

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

, ''Microctenopoma'' species produce bubble nests like many other

labyrinth fish The Anabantoidei are a suborder of anabantiform ray-finned freshwater fish distinguished by their possession of a lung-like labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air. The fish in the Anabantoidei suborder are known as anabantoids or la ...

, and ''Sandelia'' lays their eggs on the substrate. Climbing gouramis are so named due to their ability to "climb" out of water and "walk" short distances. Even though it has not been reliably observed, some authors have mentioned about them having a tree climbing ability. Their method of terrestrial locomotion uses the gill plates as supports, and the fish pushes itself using its fins and tail.

References

External links

* {{Authority control * Anabantiformes Fish of Southeast Asia Fish of Thailand Amphibious fish Extant Chattian first appearances Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte