Summary:
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'''Walking fish''', sometimes called '''[[walking|ambulatory]] fish''', is a general term that refers to [[fish]] that are able to travel over [[ecoregion#Terrestrial|land]] for extended periods of time. The term may also be used for some other cases of nonstandard [[fish locomotion]], e.g., when describing fish "walking" along the [[seabed|sea floor]], as the [[handfish]] or [[frogfish]].
==Types of walking fish==
Most commonly this term is applied to [[amphibious fish]]. Able to spend longer times out of water, these fish may use a number of means of [[animal locomotion|locomotion]], including springing, [[snake]]-like [[lateral undulation]], and [[tripod fish|tripod]]-like walking. The [[mudskipper]]s are probably the best land-adapted of contemporary fish and are able to spend days moving about out of water and can even climb [[mangrove]]s, although to only modest heights. The [[Climbing gourami]] is often specifically referred to as a "walking fish", although it does not actually "walk", but rather moves in a jerky way by supporting itself on the extended edges of its [[gill]] plates and pushing itself by its fins and tail. Some reports indicate that it can also climb trees.
There are a number of fish that are less adept at actual walking, such as the [[walking catfish]]. Despite being known for "walking on land", this fish usually wriggles and may use its pectoral fins to aid in its movement. Walking Catfish have a [[respiratory system]] that allows them to live out of water for several days. Some are [[invasive species]]. A notorious case in the [[United States]] is the [[Northern snakehead]]. [[Bichir|Polypterids]] have rudimentary lungs and can also move about on land, though rather clumsily. The [[Mangrove rivulus]] can survive for months out of water and can move to places like hollow logs.
There are some species of fish that can "walk" along the sea floor but not on land; one such animal is the [[Dactylopteridae|flying gurnard]] (it does not actually fly, and should not be confused with [[flying fish]]). The batfishes of the [[Ogcocephalidae]] family (not to be confused with Batfish of [[Ephippidae]]) are also capable of walking along the sea floor. The African lungfish (P. annectens) can use its fins to ''"walk"'' along the bottom of its tank in a manner similar to the way amphibians and land vertebrates use their limbs on land, leaving tracks resembling fossil tracks found in Devonian remains.
The [[axolotl]], an aquatic [[salamander]] native to [[Mexico]], is colloquially known as the "Mexican walking fish", although it is not a fish, but an [[amphibian]].
==Evolutionary link==
In modern fish the "walking" ability differs from that of ''[[tetrapod]]s'' (four-legged animals). The theory of [[evolution]] suggests that life originated in the oceans and later moved onto land, and paleontologists have long been looking for a missing evolutionary link between ocean-living and land-living animals. Of recent finds, reported in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' (April 2006) is ''[[tiktaalik|Tiktaalik roseae]]'', which has many features of wrist, elbow, and neck that are akin to those of tetrapods. It belonged to a group of [[Sarcopterygii|lobe-finned fish]] called ''[[Rhipidistia]]'', which according to some recent theories were the ancestors of all tetrapods.
==Popular culture==
Another usage of the term "'''walking fish'''" is in reference to the "[[Parodies of the ichthys symbol|Darwin fish]]", a [[bumper sticker]] parody of the [[Ichthys]], a [[Christian symbolism|symbol of Christianity]].
In the [[Treehouse of Horror V]] segment [[Treehouse of Horror V#Time and Punishment|Time and Punishment]] [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] accidentally kills a walking fish by sitting on it.
Also in [[Judge Me Tender]] one of [[Ned Flanders|Ned]]'s fish walks out of the tank.
==See also==
*[[Flying fish]]
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'''Walking fish''', sometimes called '''[[walking|ambulatory]] fish''', is a general term that refers to [[fish]] that are able to travel over [[ecoregion#Terrestrial|land]] for extended periods of time. The term may also be used for some other cases of nonstandard [[fish locomotion]], e.g., when describing fish "walking" along the [[seabed|sea floor]], as the [[handfish]] or [[frogfish]].
==Types of walking fish==
Most commonly this term is applied to [[amphibious fish]]. Able to spend longer times out of water, these fish may use a number of means of [[animal locomotion|locomotion]], including springing, [[snake]]-like [[lateral undulation]], and [[tripod fish|tripod]]-like walking. The [[mudskipper]]s are probably the best land-adapted of contemporary fish and are able to spend days moving about out of water and can even climb [[mangrove]]s, although to only modest heights. The [[Climbing gourami]] is often specifically referred to as a "walking fish", although it does not actually "walk", but rather moves in a jerky way by supporting itself on the extended edges of its [[gill]] plates and pushing itself by its fins and tail. Some reports indicate that it can also climb trees.
There are a number of fish that are less adept at actual walking, such as the [[walking catfish]]. Despite being known for "walking on land", this fish usually wriggles and may use its pectoral fins to aid in its movement. Walking Catfish have a [[respiratory system]] that allows them to live out of water for several days. Some are [[invasive species]]. A notorious case in the [[United States]] is the [[Northern snakehead]]. [[Bichir|Polypterids]] have rudimentary lungs and can also move about on land, though rather clumsily. The [[Mangrove rivulus]] can survive for months out of water and can move to places like hollow logs.
There are some species of fish that can "walk" along the sea floor but not on land; one such animal is the [[Dactylopteridae|flying gurnard]] (it does not actually fly, and should not be confused with [[flying fish]]). The batfishes of the [[Ogcocephalidae]] family (not to be confused with Batfish of [[Ephippidae]]) are also capable of walking along the sea floor. The African lungfish (P. annectens) can use its fins to ''"walk"'' along the bottom of its tank in a manner similar to the way amphibians and land vertebrates use their limbs on land, leaving tracks resembling fossil tracks found in Devonian remains.
The [[axolotl]], an aquatic [[salamander]] native to [[Mexico]], is colloquially known as the "Mexican walking fish", although it is not a fish, but an [[amphibian]].
==Evolutionary link==
In modern fish the "walking" ability differs from that of ''[[tetrapod]]s'' (four-legged animals). The theory of [[evolution]] suggests that life originated in the oceans and later moved onto land, and paleontologists have long been looking for a missing evolutionary link between ocean-living and land-living animals. Of recent finds, reported in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' (April 2006) is ''[[tiktaalik|Tiktaalik roseae]]'', which has many features of wrist, elbow, and neck that are akin to those of tetrapods. It belonged to a group of [[Sarcopterygii|lobe-finned fish]] called ''[[Rhipidistia]]'', which according to some recent theories were the ancestors of all tetrapods.
==Popular culture==
Another usage of the term "'''walking fish'''" is in reference to the "[[Parodies of the ichthys symbol|Darwin fish]]", a [[bumper sticker]] parody of the [[Ichthys]], a [[Christian symbolism|symbol of Christianity]].
In the [[Treehouse of Horror V]] segment [[Treehouse of Horror V#Time and Punishment|Time and Punishment]] [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] accidentally kills a walking fish by sitting on it.
Also in [[Judge Me Tender]] one of [[Ned Flanders|Ned]]'s fish walks out of the tank.
==See also==
*[[Flying fish]]
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