#amphibious fishes

[aquariuminfobureau]

Periophthalmins, or mudskippers, are among the most unusual fishes to be traded as aquarium, or rather aquaterrarium novelties. Most of the species belong to the omnivorous to carnivorous genera, Periophthalmus and Periophthalmodon. More rarely traded is Boddart's blue spotted mudskipper, Boleophthalmus boddarti, which is a member of a more herbivorous genus commonly known as boggle eyed gobies or mudskippers, as well as blue spotted mudskippers. (For clarity all mudskippers comprise a closely related subset of the true gobies.) This Indo-West Pacific mudskipper grows to 22 centimeters long, or nearly reaches 9 inches. Its natural distribution according to collection records, spans from western India to Vietnam and Borneo. During low tide the large B. boddarti are present on unvegetated mudflats whilst the younger fish have a closer association with vegetation including mangrove pneumatophores. Some other mudskipper species are similarly distributed per size and age class in this way.

Mudskippers are true gobies that have adopted evolutionary tendencies to life right at and outside the waters edge. Of the mudskippers it is Periophthalmus itself that is best adapted to life out of water, skipping with agility upon, over and around mangroves roots and other such obstacles. Such is possible because of specializations to their physiology, senses, axial skeleton, pectoral finnage, and associated musculature. Boleophalmus have more restricted terrestrial abilities than Periophthalmus, and when their gills are compared to those of Periophthalmus and Periophthalmodon, they are of an unspecialised, plesiomorphic structure, and cannot hold and carry water. However the head and dorsal skin of Boleophthalmus is specialized to allow good gas transfer whilst the fish are emersed or near the water surface.

Boleophthalmus sp. are remarkable for their grazing specializations. To eat microscopic flora they place their lower jaw upon the mud, and move their heads side to side. As they do so, the horizontally positioned teeth on their lower jaw scrape the surface of the substrate. Contrasting against the strange dentition of the Boleophthalmus lower jaw, are the more normally vertical teeth that are present in their top jaw. The anatomy of their pharynx also shows specialization for its habit of feeding by sifting tiny items as. This derived mudskipper genus is an obligate grazer, and not in the least macropredatory. Diatoms are the dominant food items in the B. boddarti gut, but contrary to some sources claiming it is a strict diatom feeder, they comprise more than 1/2 of its diet throughout the year. Benthic green algae, fish eggs, nematodes, and annelids together form the rest of the diet of this mudskipper. Unsurprisingly Boleophthalmus harmlessly ingest a lot of fine substrate due to their strange feeding method. The curious oropharyngeal anatomy of herbivorous mudskippers, has been suggested to function at minimizing the ratio of inedible mud and sand particles to useful food biomass. Detritus is also proved to be ingested by these grazing mudskippers.

B. boddarti are very territorial animals, and striking threat displays and physical skirmishes occur between males occupying neighbouring burrows. When population density is high, B. bodderti construct mud ramparts around their own burrows. Cumulative building activities by numerous, neighboring fish is on a scale that alters the very landscape that they inhabit. The construction of walls creates pools of water and exposed mud slopes, from which diatoms are grazed by their builders. This species of mudskipper is thus considered to create farming ponds that guarantee its food supply. Males also display to attract females, who are then escorted to their burrows for the purposes of procreation. B. boddarti practice parental care, and their burrows serve them as safe nesting spaces.

Environmental reports from a typical B. boddarti habitat indicated a water pH of 6.8, and a salinity of 12 to 15 parts per thousand, or around 1.01 in terms of specific gravity. The water temperature reported was 31 to 33 degrees centigrade, whereas the temperature of the mud was 28 to 35 degrees. In the Mekong delta where B. boddarti is present, the water temperature was usually 28 to 29 degrees regardless of the wet and dry season, though the water salinity was lest constant, measuring as low as 3 ppt in the wet season and 9 ppt in the dry season. Therefore B. boddarti tolerates low end brackish specific gravities, of 1.002 to 1.007.

Experimentally this species tolerates a broader range of water salinities, from 4 to 27 ppt. One study of wild B. boddarti in eastern India, concluded that it tolerates a wider range of environmental variables, than do most of the partly sympatric mudskippers and similar gobies. Another study focusing on such species, along a much wider stretch of eastern India, demonstrates that B. boddarti forms a mudskipper community with Periophthalmus novemradiatus and P. variabilis, and Periophthalmodon schlosseri, as well as a fellow Boleophthalmus species, B. dussumieri. Although B. boddarti rarely arrives in the pet trade, it is one of the most successful of mudskipper species in the wild.

In the aquaterrarium, Boleophalmus require a fine, sloping substrate. At the deep end they should be able to submerge completely, but at the shallow end, they will be happy with their dorsum above the water surface. Despite reports that the natural diet of Boleophthalmus sp. is impossible to replicate in a captive setting, they will reportedly consume finely ground dried foods, such as fish flakes containing a high algal content. Powdered algae wafers containing animal protein would assumedly be ideal. Nonetheless imported specimens of Boleophthalmus tend to have a low survival rate, presumably because of improper treatment between the wild and tbe home aquaterrarium.

[toacody]

Makuta Spleco

He took the name Silver Fish literally.

Source

Creator: DerpSpawn

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Eye Contact

A baby golden-spotted mudskipper on the edge of a mangrove in Samut Sakorn province, Thailand. Mudskippers are an amphibious fish and can use their pectoral fins to “walk” on land.

Photograph: Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn

Mangrove Photography Awards 2023

[frogdotpng]

babe wake up i have a new favorite animal

[termagax]

⭐ AND 👁 :3

⭐ Who's more likely to seek out attention from their partner?

FISH. deepsea is a little attention-craving monster they WILL find a way to get his attention if it kills them. generally hes pretty good at ignoring them if he wants to but a lot of the time its more about doing a Bit than it is actually ignoring hir.

👁 What's your favorite physical trait of your F/O? What's their favorite physical trait of yours?

MY FAVOURITE? god i dont know hes so hot. if i had to pick something i guess id go with his hands? theyre so fucking HUGE and hes got nice arms and i think. a lot. about his hands. because im normla. for his favourite uh. i dont actually know ive never really thought about it before. maybe how short they are? or how expressive their face is, i think hed find it cute and endearing...

[cuddho]

Hi! I’m still alive, though I’m not here a lot.

My career is a train on rails that lost its brakes, but you still enjoy the ride.

I’ve also had some health conditions, and it’s okay now, but I haven’t been able to draw all year at all.

Yet I’m not giving up! And recently I’ve been able to draw a little.

Here’s my renewed #Arlong I loved so much. I’ve started to redraw this one piece manga cover last year but I wasn’t quite satisfied with my drawing when I opened it last week. So I redrew him nearly from the start.

The eyes and the smile now are much more like him.

I also added general arlong palette: blue, violet and green — for the ocean and the fishmen, yellow to color of fear, sand and also soft light and red for blood.

The eye! I love it myself now!

Aaand I have also sketched a new thing I had in mind for a few years now: my Hunter x Hunter favourite man: Chrollo Lucifer!

So I’m eager to finish one piece redraw ASAP to start HIM

[taiwantalk]

What Ukrainian military needs is amphibious cavalry. The airboat of various sizes. From small little fishes to the big ones that can ferry a tank. Create multiple regiments of them to form multiple convoys to fight russian troops south of flooded areas.

[iwhoneverbelievedinwar]

"A walrus spouts much like a whale, but the walrus is not a fish, because he is amphibious."

My darling Ishmael, may I introduce:

not fish, apparently

[slicedcat]

Fish men! Fish men! Rolly Polly fish men!

His name is Turd and his favorite activity is breathing! 🐟 🫁

[womanman22]

ok so i just found out lunged fish HAVE LUNGS. i thought they were like cat fish with silly names but nO HOW ARE RHEY EVEN FISH!!!!!!’

[aquariuminfobureau]

Sometimes I am asked which fish they might purchase, along with the mudskippers, that has a true affinity for life on land, as opposed to simply possessing the ability to breathe air, or draw over the land. Top of the list must be two African catfishes of genus Gymnallabes and Chanallabes, known as the eel catfishes. (There are other species in these genera, but it is known, or assumed, that traded eel catfishes are of these two species.) These genera are related to the African and Asian walking catfishes, of the genus Clarias - but these leave the water only under environmental stress. Gymnallabes and Chanallabes are true fish, but they are habitually amphibious by their nature and prefetence. The entire clade Clariidae to which they belong, and its sister genus Heteropneustes, are bestowed gill arches modified into a novel respiratory organ, which is an evolutionary adaptation for breathing atmospheric air. Gas exchange also occurs through the skin of clariid catfishes.

Gymnallabes typus is native to West Africa, east to Cameroon, and is a relative of the Central African Chanallabes apus. These two catfish species are very similar, and G. typus is often incorrectly labelled in the trade as Chanallabes apus, which some people mistakenly think is the only species of eel catfish. One difference between the two species and their genera, is that Chanallabes catfish have lost their pectoral fins, and Gymnallabes have retained them. Of the two species, G. typus reaches only 30 centimetres or 12 inches long, and the larger C. apus can grow 7 centimeters or nearly 3 inches longer than this. Their body shape is strikingly eel-like, a similarity of form and function that formed the basis for the common name broadly applied to all such catfishes in English.

Eel catfishes routinely leave the water to forage amid damp leaf litter, in addition to frequenting forest streams, ditches, and swamps. Because these catfishes regularly seize insect prey when they foray on land, their ability to exploit terrestrial prey resources, has fascinated scientists interested in how our own Palaeozoic ancestors, quite independently of any true fish, became land animals. Needless to say, the aquaterrarium for these remarkable species should contain plenty leaves, such as Indian almond. Eel catfishes have evolved to burrow and hide among the leaf litter of humid African forests, both in and out of the water, and they will readily take advantage of aquarium decorations, as a place to shelter from bright light and stressful encounters. The land portion they are provided, must obviously remain damp.

Ideally the water pH should reflect the habitats of wild eel catfish. The rivers and streams of West Africa are more soft and acidic, with a typical pH value of 6 to 7, than are those of Central Africa, which hover around a value of 7. Although it is doubtful that the difference between these values, which are generalizations based on their geographical origins, would have any effect on the health of either species. Precaution must be taken that these slender and air breathing fishes, do not escape through holes in the lid. These burrowing, nocturnal animals have poor eyesight and are averse to bright light, so will be observed more often if the lighting is dim. Fortunately these catfish seem to do fine, when housed at normal, tropical aquarium temperatures. In the aquaterrarium they show disinterest in any animal that is not bothering them, and that they do not assume is potential prey.

Because these fish have small heads and gapes, only very small ornamentals could be at risk from these catfish. On principle, a wide range of mutually indifferent animals can thus share the land and water portions of the same aquaterrarium, without nasty accidents or incidents. One further consideration is that faster swimmers and boisterous feeders, might outcompete these benthic catfish, for the food that is provided to the whole aquarium community. Because eel catfish are essentially insectivores, their feeding is unprobematic. Food might be supplied for them in a frozen form, or as sinking tablets composed of appropriate ingredients. Although eel catfish have reportedly acclimatised in the aquarium to bolder, diurnal feedings, they might not cooperate, especially if they are recently imported from Africa.

[toacody]

Tunnel Crawler

What madman thought crossing a scorpion with an angler fish was a good idea?!

Source

Creator: illuminatitriforce

[ferferv]

(vía Axolotl Cartoon Blue Tones Throw Blanket by jennstore)

[nemxricultrix]

why did I do that!

[bogleech]

what even is a leech ? /genq

A lot of people don't really know, other than that they're a wormlike thing that sucks blood, because they're not all that talked about and not everyone encounters them! I have a site article that's an overview of them, but here's a video of the giant ones I keep as pets:

Leeches are actually annelids in the same class as earthworms! But earthworms also happen to be the most common prey of predatory leeches, some of which eat absolutely nothing else, so they really are like if earthworms had their own "vampires." GENERAL FACTS:

Most leeches have a sucker at each end of their body

Leeches need moisture but many are amphibious and some live entirely on land! Many rainforests are full of tree-dwelling leeches.

Leeches can be sanguivores (blood feeders), predators of other invertebrates, scavengers of decaying material or all three.

Leeches that feed on blood either do so through a long, thin retractable proboscis, or by making an incision with three tiny jaws at the center of the front sucker.

There are also lots of ocean leeches! Almost all of those are bloodsuckers, a lot of them specializing only in fish blood.

A leech's bite is generally completely painless and mostly harmless, except that their natural anticoagulants will make the blood flow freely from even the tiny pinhole of a bite. It LOOKS very scary and alarming and it can last for many hours; being bit by a ton of them at once would probably be life threatening, but I don't know if it's ever happened.

A bloodsucking leech feeds for about 40 minutes to an hour, then drops off and leaves. The damage is already done by the time it's made the initial bite, so it doesn't actually help anything to remove the leech once it's attached; pulling it off can damage you more so just wait!

They're still used by hospitals, because nothing man-made is anywhere near as simple, painless and effective at draining post-surgical blood clots.

Leeches commonly have tiny little dot eyes, and can have lots of them, sometimes in rows down the side of the head end. Some also apparently have rows of eyes all the way down their bodies and even some on the rear sucker!!

This is the best image on the internet of a leech's eyes, and what their face looks like with the sucker retracted: