Researchers have expressed their concerns about an aggressive climbing perch fish that could possibly make its way onto the Australian mainland and threaten some of its wildlife. The aggressive fish kills its prey, which is birds and other fish, by choking them. Not only this, any animals who attempt to eat the exotic fish could result in further death. The climbing perch fish can flex its gill covers, spreading them out and potentially getting caught in the animals throat Nathan Waltham from James Cook University said.

Here is a video of the Climbing Perch fish “walking” on land:

Dr. Waltham also said that if this exotic fish was not correctly managed in the Torres Strait it could make its way to the Northern Australia mainland. It has already been observed in the Boigu and Saibai islands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=14&v=wRD4oyo7IVM

This exotic fish can walk on land and survive out of water for several days, meaning it could easily survive a boat trip from the islands. In light of this the research team is hoping to educate the fishermen of the Torres Strait and the locals on how to identify these fish, and to be sure to dispose of them before arriving back to the mainland. A spokeswoman said:

There are no viable means of eradicating the fish from these islands and an awareness campaign was conducted with island communities to help prevent any further dispersal of these exotic fish.