Anabas

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Pla mo-Thailand25.JPG

| image_caption = Anabas testudineus

| taxon = Anabas

| authority = Cloquet, 1816

| type_species = Perca scandens

| type_species_authority = Daldorff, 1797{{Cof record|genid=942|title=Anabas|access-date=11 December 2019}}

| range_map = Anabas map.jpg

| range_map_caption = Native distribution of Anabas species

}}

Anabas is a genus of climbing gouramies native to southern and eastern Asia. In the wild, Anabas species grow up to {{cvt|30|cm|ft|0}} long. They inhabit both brackish and fresh water.{{Cite journal|url=http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/209/22/4475|doi=10.1242/jeb.02557|title=Active ammonia transport and excretory nitrogen metabolism in the climbing perch,Anabas testudineus, during 4 days of emersion or 10 minutes of forced exercise on land|year=2006|last1=Tay|first1=Yi L.|last2=Loong|first2=Ai M.|last3=Hiong|first3=Kum C.|last4=Lee|first4=Shi J.|last5=Tng|first5=Yvonne Y. M.|last6=Wee|first6=Nicklaus L. J.|last7=Lee|first7=Serene M. L.|last8=Wong|first8=Wai P.|last9=Chew|first9=Shit F.|last10=Wilson|first10=Jonathan M.|last11=Ip|first11=Yuen K.|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|volume=209|issue=22|pages=4475–4489|pmid=17079718|s2cid=19028025|doi-access=free|bibcode=2006JExpB.209.4475T }} Anabas species possess a labyrinth organ, a structure in the fish's head which allows it to breathe atmospheric oxygen, so it can be out of water for an extended period of time (6–8 hr), hence its name from the Greek anabainein ‘walk up’, from ana- ‘up’ + bainein ‘go’. They are carnivorous, living on a diet of water invertebrates and their larvae, and - in contrast to most of their relatives - are scatter spawners with no parental care. Species are found in South Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines.