Anabas testudineus (Climbing Perch)

[ISpilledMyDrink]

Good day,

I'm new to this forum. I have two plastic containers lying around, each has the size of 60cm x 30cm x 30 cm. I have been searching around for information about Anabas testudineus. It is a native species in my area and mostly reared as food. I can't find any of them in LFS, so I am thinking of buying from a fish farm. The problem is, they all have minimum order, like 1000 fries. I managed to find one fish farm that has a minimum order of 100 fries. Should I buy 100 and only keep the best few while releasing the rest into a lake nearby? Or should I just buy adults instead? The fries sold are about 2 inches long and they can grow to 15 cm in captivity or 25 cm in the wild. I find it more rewarding to watch the fries grow into adults, but since I'm just a beginner, I'm not sure if I know how to keep fish fries.

Also, anyone who has the experience in keeping Anabas testudineus? Some sources said they are carnivorous, some said they are omnivorous. Some said they are best kept alone, while others said they are peaceful.

 

[Tifftastic]

Never release a fish that was reared in captivity (farm or home) into the wild. Regardless if they are native. Fish farms often have diseases and infections, due to this they often treat with medications that make the fish unsuitable for release or the fish live with the infection. Also, releasing fish into the wild is illegal in many circumstances without a license. Even when the fish are native, randomly upping the population in a given area can be disastrous for other species that live there.

I would call the farm and tell them what you are inretested in. They may be able to make an exception. Or talk to an LFS and see if they can order them or if they can take some of the extras off your hands for store credit or something of the like.
Additionally, look into the legality of owning a native. Some states (I know my home state of WA does) have laws against personal ownership of native species.

 

[ISpilledMyDrink]

My area was a mining area, so the lake is man made. I am not sure precisely how big the lake is, but I know it has a depth of 40m. The fish farm only sells Anabas in bulk because they are intended to be eaten, so the fishes should be healthy? I live in Malaysia and many Buddhists (I am not), especially the Chinese, release fishes bought from LFS into water bodies to get 'good karma'. So, it is not illegal to release captive fishes here. Also, many locals release fries of edible fishes such as catfishes and tillapia into mining lakes so that they can fish them in the future.

The question is whether is is ethical to do so. Just because others do it, it doesn't mean it is okay for me to do so too.

Personally, I don't think the LFS nearest to my place will entertain such request. Last time, I bought a water pump that doesn't suit my tank and the owner did not allow me to return the good.

Or, I can 'rescue' adult Anabas sold in restaurant aquariums. But then again, many of such aquariums are packed with fishes. And if they caught the fishes in the wild, I will have to train them to eat pellets.

 

[Tifftastic]

Even in a man made lake, there's still a risk to the ecological balance. It's going to have to be something you decide for yourself though. It's unfortunate that you dont have an LFS that can work with you.

Unfortunately, I have no personal experience with this species, so I can't advise on your other questions. However, fishbase.org is a good cite for accurate and scientific info. They suggest the fish are omnivorous. The link is here http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Anabas-testudineus.html
Personal interpretation is that if it's economical to farm, it can be kept in groups, but judging by the family it's from, it's likely not a fish that requires to live with others of its species.

 

[ISpilledMyDrink]

Thanks for your advice. I will try and look for other LFS to ask if they can help.

Your research is pretty cool! Actually, I'm thinking if I can somehow 'condition' Anabas testudineus into feeding on land. A bit like Pavlov's dog.

From what I have read so far, this species 'walk' on land when the water level of its home gets dried up. It will look for better place to live in.

Natural response: It is natural for dog to salivate when it sees food.
Unconditioned stimulus: The dog will not salivate when Pavlov rings a bell.
During conditioning: Pavlov rings the bell when the dog is given food.
After conditioning: The dog salivates when it hears the bell.

What I'm trying to do is:
Natural response: The fish will 'walk' when the water level is lowered.
Unconditioned stimulus: The fish will not hunt on land, at least no one has ever seen them doing it in the wild.
During conditioning: Lower the water level and feed it when it walks.
After conditioning: The fish learns to feed on land.

Well, I don't know if its ethical to do so, since I have no experience in any experiment or research whatsoever. If I can get the fries, it can reduce confounding variables such as age, since age could affect intelligence (at least in humans). If I raise them from fries, I can be sure that they got the same nutrients.

What do you think of this? Am I being naive or ignorant?

 

[Tifftastic]

The method sounds doable, but you're right to question the ethics. The raising and lowering of water level will induce a stress response, the walking itself is a stress response. The scientist in me is very curious, but also very cautious as what would be the benefit to the fish to feeding on land? Additionally, from the research I've done myself and read the environment experienced very early in life is what has the strongest effect on development. So, your would need to start this very early.

I went to a talk this summer on lungfish and how they travel on land and the typed of imprints left. They essentially did what you want to do in order to get the fish to travel on land and it was very difficult, but they had a single adult specimen. Maybe look around to see if it is something that has been done with other species and why it was done and weigh the two against eachother.

 

[ISpilledMyDrink]

Yes, there is an interesting research done by an evolutionary biomechanics researcher. She raised two groups of Senegal bichir (Dinosaur eel). One on land and one in water. She found that there is indeed a physiological difference between the two. Though I am not sure how she fed the treatment group.

 

[ISpilledMyDrink]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/27/6074855/this-is-what-happens-when-you-raise-fish-to-walk-on-land

 

[Tifftastic]

In my experience with P. senegalus they will eat anything that can fit in their mouth, so I doubt it was hard to get them to eat in 3 mm of water. Mine particularly loved earthworms and would occasionally eat them out of my hand. I had some how missed that research, thank you for sharing it!
Are you planning on doing this for research? Or just to see if you can do it?