Taxonomy
The walking catfish was formally described in 1758 as Silurus batrachus in Carolus Linnaeus' 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Johannes Scopoli established the genus Clarias in 1777. Clarias is derived from Latin, meaning "shining". Synonyms of Clarias batrachus include Macropteronotus fuscus Lacepède 1803, Macropteronotus jagur Hamilton 1822, Clarias assamensis Day 1877, and Clarias punctatus Valenciennes 1840. Members of the family Clariidae are collectively known as "air-breathing" catfishes although they are not the only catfish family capable of breathing atmospheric air.


Common Names
Walking catfish is the most common English name for this species. The Thai name Pla duk dam translates to "dull colored wriggling-fish". Other English language common names include clarias catfish, freshwater catfish, thai hito (Thai), and Thailand catfish. alimudan (Visayan), hito (Tagalog), hitong batukan (Tagalog), ikan keling (Malay), ito (Kapampangan), kawatsi (Kuyunon), keli (Malay), klarievyi som (Russian), konnamonni (Finnish), leleh (Javanese), magur (Bengali), nga-khoo (Burmese), paltat (Ilokano), pla duk nam jued (Thai), trey andaing roueng (Khmer), and wanderwels (German) are common names used in countries other than the U.S.


Geographical Distribution

The walking catfish is a widely distributed species, known from Pakistan, eastern India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. To what extent this distribution comprises the native range of the walking catfish is open to conjecture. Valued in aquaculture by some Southeast Asian peoples, it seems likely that human activities are responsible for the presence of the species in some of the more disjunct portions of its current range. In the United States, the history of the non-native population established in southern Florida during the early 1960's is well documented. The spread of the walking catfish from one or perhaps two points of introduction encompassed 20 counties in approximately 10 years; effectively the entire southern peninsula of Florida.