---
title: "Fishing Cat"
description: "Prionailurus viverrinus — Mammiferi. The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/fishing-cat
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Fishing Cat

> Prionailurus viverrinus — Mammiferi. The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia.

- Scientific name: *Prionailurus viverrinus*
- Category: `mammals` (Mammiferi)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi)
- iNaturalist observations: 309
- Wikidata: [Q190674](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q190674)
- iNaturalist taxon: [41946](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/41946)

## Names

- en: Fishing Cat
- de: Fischkatze
- es: Gato Pescador
- fr: Chat Viverrin
- nl: Vissende kat
- pt: Gato-pescador
- pl: Kotek cętkowany

## Countries with the most observations

LK (51), IN (38), BD (8), TH (6), PK (3)

## Summary

The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. It has a deep yellowish-grey fur with black lines and spots. Adults have a head-to-body length of 57 to 78 cm (22 to 31 in), with a 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) long tail. Males are larger than females, weighing 8 to 17 kg (18 to 37 lb), while females average 5 to 9 kg (11 to 20 lb). It lives mostly in the vicinity of wetlands, along rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, in swamps and mangroves where it preys mostly on fish. Other prey items include birds, insects, small rodents, molluscs, reptiles including snakes, amphibians and…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_cat

## Photo

![Fishing Cat](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/fishing-cat/medium.jpg)

Photo: wilmotsenaratne · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/378204616

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/fishing-cat?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).