Parental Care in the Climbing Perch (Anabas testudineus): Confusion or Lost Data?

Abstract

Anabantoid fishes comprise a unique group, most of whose representatives are characterized by diverse forms of parental care. Evolutional reconstruction of the reproductive strategies of anabantoids is challenging, partly due to the lack of reliable evidence of parental care in a number of its representatives, the most famous of which is the climbing perch. Moreover, apparent contradictions between literary sources frequently occur on the subject. This brief overview attempts to analyze the situation and identify the possible causes of disagreement. The further development in understanding the phylogeny of life history strategies in the group, as well as the concept of evolutionary transitions among parental care patterns in fishes in general, depend on the clarification of this situation.