It is named for its ability to "walk" and wiggle across dry land, to find food or suitable environments.

While it does not truly walk as most bipeds or quadrupeds do, it can use its pectoral fins to keep it upright as it makes a wiggling motion with snakelike movements to traverse land.

[2] This fish normally lives in slow-moving and often stagnant waters in ponds, swamps, streams, and rivers, as well as in flooded rice paddies, or temporary pools that may dry up.

[6] The walking catfish has an elongated body shape and reaches almost 0.5 m (1.6 ft) in length and 1.2 kg (2.6 lb) in weight.

[3] Often covered laterally in small white spots, the body is mainly coloured a gray or grayish brown.

[4] Walking catfish thrive in stagnant, frequently hypoxic waters,[5] and often are found in muddy ponds, canals, ditches, and similar habitats.

[5] In the wild, this creature is omnivorous; it feeds on smaller fish, molluscs, and other invertebrates, as well as detritus and aquatic weeds.

Additional introductions in Florida, supposedly purposeful releases, were made by fish farmers in the Tampa Bay area, Hillsborough County in late 1967 or early 1968, after the state banned the importation and possession of walking catfish.

Dill and Cordone (1997) reported this species has been sold by tropical fish dealers in California for some time.

In Florida, walking catfish are known to have invaded aquaculture farms, entering ponds where they prey on agricultural fish stocks.

[clarification needed] A white variation with black patterns is commonly seen in the aquarium fish trade.