#mudskippers

[zivazivc]

just found about this funky fish that can walk around on land and the thing looks straight out of the trolls world. look at this thing, i love it!

anyway, floyd grew up in a cage and hed grew up in a city, i doubt they'd be thrilled to see one of these things for the first time. I know I would have shat my pants if i saw a 1.5 meter long catfish walk out of a lake towards me

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #632

Atlantic mudskipper!

It is able to exist out of water for extended periods of time due to its ability to store water in its gill chambers! It can also absorb oxygen through its skin, given it’s moist enough.

[taxonomytournament]

Taxonomy Tournament: Fish

Gobiiformes. This order is made up of gobies, some of the smallest fish there are, including the Mudskipper, which can breathe air and is one of the only fish that can blink.

Syngnathiformes. This order is made up of fish with long narrow bodies, with some groups swimming with their bodies aligned vertically to blend in with seaweed. Examples include the seahorse, trumpet fish, and sea moths.

[urmom973729]

NUMBER ONE MUDSKIPPER LOVER🔥🔥🔥🔥

[hisiheyah]

ah-ma's very secret deep dark origin story unlocked

The prologue for The Traveler's Guide to Geozoology is on my Patreon!

[miss-cha0s]

Did anyone else just think this???

I'm obsessed with mudskippers there's no way a real animal looks like his

[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.

[zivazivc]

Trolls fella & marine biology enjoyer who saw your trolls creature reblog, I 100% agree with you. Like SO agree. You probably know this [or not, idfk-] but those are Mudskippers!! They are VERY smart and. Basically just puppies who like to jump & hop around. They can even climb trees!! They are soooo funky and make surprisingly great pets!!

Imagining this freak creature in the trolls world makes me giggle and twirl my hair around. They are sooooo cool and underrated!!!!!!!

your ask spurred me to start drawing a comic about them! they are so SILLEYY!! (and no i was not aware of them but thank you for telling me)

here's a sketch from the comic that i decided to color

the video if anyone is curious

[amnhnyc]

Ever feel like a fish out of water? Meet the giant mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri). Believe it or not, this fish needs to breathe air and spends a decent amount of time on land! Found on the muddy shores of mangroves in parts of Southeast Asia, it uses its pectoral fins to “skip” or “walk” across mudflats.

Photo: mysorekid, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, iNaturalist

[nyxdruid]

Mudskipper derg for my partner

[critter-of-habit]

Now kis- uh, I mean, fight?

[marinebiologyshitposts]

i misread mudskipper as markiplier im so sorry

mudskiplier

[junadeo]

hey dont put needols in that guy (he dosent think highly of acupuncture)

[sneepsnorp3d]

low poly mudskipper uses LEAP ABOVE THE HEAVENS!!!!!!!

[herpsandbirds]

Boodart’s Mudskipper (Boleophthalmus boddarti), showing off on the mudflats, family Oxudercidae, order Gobiiformes, The Sunderbands, India

photograph by Agasty Roy Arpita

[ocean-sunfish-apathy]

Your thoughts on the mudskipper?

PHENOMENAL CREATURE