Mudskippers are fascinating little animals. Mudskippers, which consist of about six species in the family Gobiidae, are named for living in muddy areas and for their unique movement styles. They can “skip” by using their tail as a springboard for movement, or "crutch" by using their fins to hobble and climb. They aren’t particularly mobile animals on land, but they make it work! They occur in the Indian Ocean, more specifically near coastal India, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and segments of northern Indonesia. Their range is limited to marine and brackish waters (a mix of saltwater and freshwater) in or near mangrove swamps and mudflats.
Mudskippers can get up to about 30 cm (12 inches) long. They are one of those exceptional fish that can breathe both in or out of water. While submerged, they breathe normally with their gills as other fish do. While exposed to open air, they breathe trapped air in their gill chambers and outside air through certain parts of their skin, such as the membranes in their throat and mouth. They will even roll their eyes to replenish some oxygen! There is one caveat to their tricks for breathing on land, however: to continue breathing trapped air in their gill chambers, mudskippers must keep themselves wet so water is present and allows their gills to function properly. They must also roll in mud or retreat to the mudholes they create to avoid dessication, or drying out in direct sunlight.
The males of these species dig deep holes in mud, which are used as a safe haven to fertilize eggs and raise young. This protective feature is doubly secure since mudskippers are also highly territorial, and will "flag", or flare their fins at, other mudskippers to stay away from their spaces.
This is BBC Earth's production on mudskippers, which we watched in my Marine Biology class at school to learn about these unique little creatures. I highly recommend it so you can see and learn about them in greater detail as well!
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