The walking catfish (Clarias batrachus) is a species of freshwater airbreathing catfish native to Southeast Asia. It is named for its ability to "walk" and wiggle across dry land, to find food or suitable environments. While it does not truly walk as most bipeds or quadrupeds do, it has the ability to use its pectoral fins to keep it upright as it makes a wiggling motion with snakelike movements to traverse land. This fish normally lives in slow-moving and often stagnant waters in ponds, swamps, streams, and rivers, as well as in flooded rice paddies, or temporary pools that may dry up. When this happens, its "walking" skill allows the fish to move to other aquatic environments. Considerable taxonomic confusion surrounds this species and it has frequently been confused with other close relatives. One main distinction between the walking catfish and the native North American ictalurid catfish with which it sometimes is confused, is that the walking catfish lacks an adipose fin. Characteristics and anatomy The walking catfish has an elongated body shape and reaches almost in length and in weight. Often covered laterally in small white spots, the body is mainly coloured a gray or grayish brown. This catfish has long-based dorsal and anal fins, as well as several pairs of sensory barbels. The skin is scaleless, but covered with mucus, which protects the fish when it is out of water. This fish needs to be handled carefully when fishing it due to its embedded sting or thorn-like defensive mechanism hidden behind its fins (including the middle ones before the tail fin, similar to the majority of all catfishes). Taxonomy, distribution, and habitat The walking catfish is a tropical species native to Southeast Asia. The native range of true Clarias batrachus is confirmed from the Indonesian island of Java only, but three closely related and more widespread species frequently have been confused with this species. These are C. magur of northeast India and Bangladesh, a likely undescribed species from Indochina, and another likely undescribed species from the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Both of these undescribed species have been referred to as, Clarias aff. batrachus. At present, the taxonomic position of the Philippines population (called hito or simply "catfish" by the locals) is unclear, and it also is unclear whether South Indian populations are C. magur or another species. As a consequence, much information (behavioral, ecological, related to introduced