mudskipper

Mudskippers
Mudskippers in The Gambia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Gobiidae
Subfamily:	Oxudercinae
Genera
Apocryptes Apocryptodon Boleophthalmus Parapocryptes Periophthalmodon Periophthalmus Pseudapocryptes Scartelaos Zappa (genus)

Mudskippers are members of the subfamily Oxudercinae (tribe Periophthalmini^[1]), within the family Gobiidae (Gobies). They are completely amphibious fish, fish that can use its pectoral fins to "walk" on land.^[2][3] Being amphibious, they are uniquely adapted to intertidal habitats, unlike most fish in such habitats which survive the retreat of the tide by hiding under wet seaweed or in tidal pools.^[4] Mudskippers are quite active when out of water, feeding and interacting with one another, for example to defend their territories.

They are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions, including the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Adaptations

Compared with fully aquatic gobies, these fish present a range of peculiar behavioural and physiological adaptations to an amphibious lifestyle. These include:

• Anatomical and behavioural adaptations that allow them to move effectively on land as well as in the water.^[3] As their name implies these fish use their fins to move around in a series of skips. They can also flip their muscular body to catapult themselves up to 60 cm into the air.^[5]

• The ability to breathe through their skin and the lining of their mouth (the mucosa) and throat (the pharynx). This is only possible when the mudskipper is wet, limiting mudskippers to humid habitats and requiring that they keep themselves moist. This mode of breathing, similar to that employed by amphibians, is known as cutaneous air breathing.^[4] Another important adaptation that aids breathing while out of water are their enlarged gill chambers, where they retain a bubble of air. These large gill chambers close tightly when the fish is above water, keeping the gills moist, and allowing them to function. They act like a scuba diver's cylinders, and supply oxygen for respiration also while on land.^[4]

• Digging of deep burrows in soft sediments that allow the fish to thermoregulate;^[6] avoid marine predators during the high tide when the fish and burrow are submerged;^[7] and for laying their eggs.^[8]

Periophthalmus gracilis (from Malaysia to North Australia)

Even when their burrow is submerged, mudskippers maintain an air pocket inside it, which allows them to breathe in conditions of very low oxygen concentration.^[9][10][11]

Species

The genus Periophthalmus is by far the most diverse and widespread genus of mudskipper. Eighteen species have been described.^[12][13][14] Periophthalmus argentilineatus is one of the most widespread and well known species. It can be found in mangrove ecosystems and mudflats of East Africa and Madagascar east through the Sundarbans of Bengal, South East Asia to Northern Australia, southeast China and southern Japan, up to Samoa and Tonga Islands.^[1] It grows to a length of about 9.5 cm and is a carnivorous opportunist feeder. It feeds on small prey such as small crabs and other arthropods.^[15] Another species, Periophthalmus barbarus, is the only oxudercine goby that inhabits the coastal areas of western Africa (Murdy, 1989).

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oxudercinae

• FishBase entry on Gobiidae
• Gobioid Research Institute
• Mudskipper Page for aquarists
• Themudskipper.org: a website on mudskippers