walking catfish

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of walking catfish¹

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

It has also become home to countless invasive species — some lethal and destructive, some merely annoying — among them he names Burmese pythons, giant African land snails, walking catfish and white Midwesterners.

From Washington Post

The Walking Catfish, faced with a shrinking pond, uses its front fins to amble over to safer waters.

From Economist

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

The walking catfish, a Southeast Asian native that's invaded South Florida, has an extra organ that supports its gills and helps it take in oxygen from the air.

From National Geographic