Mudskippers | The Walking Fish | Oxudercidae

 

* These are the bizarre terrestrial fish, Mudskippers. As the name is,
they live in marshy and mangrove areas. *

There are about 30 species of these fish. These fish can be cannibalistic at times. 

These fish have gills to breathe underwater and respire through an outer layer above the skin called "Cutin". The oxygen in the thin film of water or moisture on it's body directly diffuses into the capillaries situated very near to the cutin layer. This mode of respiration is known as "Cutaneous Respiration". Also seen in frogs and earthworms etc. This adaptation lets them outwit their competitors in a totally different way by being able to walk on land !!!

 But being limited by the constant need of moistured skin at all times before it dies of not being able to breath.

** Adaptations for cutaneous respiration include intraepidermal blood vessels in cryptobranchid salamanders (hellbenders and giant salamanders) (Supplemental Fig. e7) and development of elaborate skin folds that increase surface area for gas exchange (e.g., the Lake Titicaca Frog).

From: Pathology of Wildlife and Zoo Animals, 2018 **

* A giant mudskipper can get as big as 30cm in length at full grown stage.
Males of all species change their colors during the mating season. The natural behavior of jumping on the mud, the origin of their names "Mudskippers". Also male mudskippers protect eggs. *

These fish dig in burrows, with twists and turns to prevent birds picking them up and devouring. They make these burrows for a temporary shelter as they spend a significant amount of their life time on land, to find their favorite prey, worms and insects......
One of their unique abilities distinct from it's close relatives is to scream !!!

These fish even take extra bubbles of oxygen, as their burrows gets depleted of them over time. They also eat on smaller crustaceans. The mudskippers' eyes are independent of each other and need a constant replenishment of moisture on their surface. Thus when they blink the eye is retracted into a moisturizing sack.

They can climb onto rocks, trees and branches with the aid of strong muscles and the radial bone around it's shoulders. While on land, marshy banks/grounds they spit out water and suck the it back into it's mouth along with the targeted prey.

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J. Maanavendra roy,
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