Anabas is the genus of climbing perches, one of the most distinctive fish in the whole gourami order for its ability to survive and travel outside water. Anabas testudineus, the climbing perch, is the best-known member - an air-breathing fish equipped with a labyrinth organ that lets it gulp atmospheric oxygen, tolerate stagnant, low-oxygen water, and haul itself short distances overland between pools using its gill covers and pectoral fins, the behavior that gives the genus its common name. The atlas covers 2 species, 10–12 in as adults, found across a broad swath of South and Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, India, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia.
Anabas testudineus is widely farmed as a food fish across its range and is tough enough to be sold live in markets far from water, but it is a poor fit for the ornamental hobby - large, plain-colored, and aggressive toward tankmates and its own kind. Anabas cobojius, the Gangetic koi, is far less documented. Both atlas species are currently assessed Data Deficient, so no clear conservation picture exists for either despite the genus's wide geographic range and economic importance as a food fish.