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Fish That Walk: 9 Fish That Prefer Legs to Swimming
Some fish don't bother swimming. They walk along the sea floor, climb waterfalls or even cross dry land. Meet nine fish that walk.
Fish swim. Everybody knows that. But some fish clearly didn’t get the memo. They walk on their fins across the sea floor, shuffle over land between ponds or even climb up waterfalls. Here are nine fish that walk, and why it makes sense for them.
Red-lipped batfish
The best-known walking fish. The red-lipped batfish of the Galápagos is a poor swimmer, so it props itself up on its stiff front and back fins and walks along the seabed, hunting small crabs and worms. The bright red lips are just a bonus.
Frogfish
Frogfish are lumpy, colourful anglerfish that live on reefs. They use their arm-like front fins to clamber over rocks and coral, a bit like a slow toad, then sit still and wait for prey to come close to their lure.
Handfish
These little fish from the waters around Tasmania walk on fins that look like hands. Most are very rare. In 2020 the smooth handfish was declared extinct, one of the first ocean fish known to have disappeared in modern times.
Epaulette shark
A small shark from the Great Barrier Reef that walks on its fins between tide pools at low tide. It can survive for a while in water with very little oxygen, which helps it hunt in places other predators can’t reach.
Strange but trueThe epaulette shark can walk out of the water and across exposed reef from one pool to the next, wriggling on its fins like a lizard.
Mudskipper
Mudskippers spend more time out of water than in it. They “skip” across mudflats on their front fins, breathe through their skin and mouth lining, and keep their gills wet with a mouthful of water.
Sea robin
Sea robins have six leg-like spines under their front fins, and they use them to walk along the sea floor. A 2024 study found that some can even taste with these legs, finding buried food by touch and chemistry.
Walking catfish
An Asian catfish that can wriggle across land from one pond to another, using its spiny front fins to push itself along and breathing air. It was introduced to Florida in the 1960s, where it’s now an unwelcome invader.
Cave angel fish
This blind, pale fish lives in caves in Thailand and climbs up waterfalls by gripping rocks with its fins and walking upwards, like a salamander. Its hips are built more like those of a four-legged animal than a normal fish.
Bichir
An ancient African fish with lungs. In a famous experiment, scientists raised bichirs on land, and the fish became better walkers, changing both their movement and their skeletons. It gives clues about how the first fish might have crawled onto land.
About 375 million years ago, a fish walking in the shallows started a family tree that ended with you.
Why do some fish walk?
- To save energy: walking slowly over the bottom costs less than swimming, especially for ambush hunters.
- To sneak up: a fish that creeps is harder to notice than one that swims.
- To move between waters: crossing land lets some fish find new ponds or escape drying ones.
- Because they have to: in caves, tide pools or fast streams, walking is sometimes the only way to get around.
Walking fish also tell us about our own history. The lobe-finned ancestors of the coelacanth and lungfish were the first vertebrates to move onto land. Every animal with legs, from frogs to people, descends from them.
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