Clarias batu Lim & Ng, 1999
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Clarias batu (sometimes known under the common name Tioman walking catfish) is a species of clariid catfish. It is only known from Tioman Island off the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The eel-like catfish found on this island were originally identified as the widespread species Clarias nieuhofii but comparison of a large series of specimens from Tioman with a series of C. nieuhofii from the mainland revealed consistent and distinctive differences indicating a separate species.
This is an elongated catfish up to 30.5 cm (12.0 inches) standard length. It can most readily be distinguished from C. nieuhofii by the fact that the dorsal and anal fins are clearly separated from the caudal fin whereas C. nieuhofii has all these fins confluent. Care should be taken however as specimens of C. batu have been recorded which have apparently confluent fins as a result of healing after suffering damage.
Wikipedia contributors, Clarias batu; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T19:21:40.375493+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Clarias batu Lim & Ng, 1999
- Name authority
- Lim & Ng, 1999
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Siluriformes
- Family
- Clariidae
- Genus
- Clarias
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSiluriformes
- familyClariidae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusClarias Scopoli, 1777
- speciesClarias batu Lim & Ng, 1999
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Clarias. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Clarias albopunctatus Nichols & La Monte, 1953 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias buthupogon Sauvage, 1879 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias cataractus (Fowler, 1939) | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dumerilii Steindachner, 1866 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias pseudonieuhofii Sudarto, Teugels & Pouyaud, 2004 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias salae Hubrecht, 1881 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dussumieri Valenciennes, 1840 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias longior Boulenger, 1907 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias olivaceus Fowler, 1904 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dayi Hora, 1936 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias buettikoferi Steindachner, 1894 | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Clarias dhonti (Boulenger, 1920) | ClariidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Lim, K. K. P., & Ng, H. H. (1999). Clarias batu, a new species of catfish (Teleostei: Clariidae) from Pulau Tioman, Peninsular Malaysia. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, Supplement 6: 157–167. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:VR9H. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.