walking catfish

American  

noun

1. an Asian catfish, Clarias batrachus, that can survive out of water and move overland from one body of water to another: introduced into Florida.

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Etymology

Origin of walking catfish

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Several videos after Debby's landfall show a species known as walking catfish popping up in driveway puddles in Florida and South Carolina.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2024

For most Floridians, though, disaster-flirting comes at a smaller, quieter scale — sudden plagues of frogs, grasshoppers, or invasions of walking catfish.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 22, 2016

Waltham said the climbing perch was just one of several invasive wetland-dwelling species in PNG – including walking catfish, snakehead, pacu, tilapia and gourami – that posed a possible threat to Australian habitats.

From The Guardian • Jun. 2, 2015

Florida's newest menace is an im probable creature called Clarias bat-rachus, the Asian walking catfish.

From Time Magazine Archive

From Yankees fleeing the northern cold to Asian walking catfish to South ; American water hyacinths, southern Florida has suffered through many invasions by persistent foreigners threatening to displace native flora and fauna.

From Time Magazine Archive