Fun Facts of the Day: Mudskippers are fish that can live on land as well as in the water. They get their name from their way of terrestrial locomotion, by skipping as they propel themselves across the mud, using their pectoral fins like oars. While they do have gills to breathe underwater like all other fish, mudskippers can breathe air through their skin as well. More specifically, its known as cutaneous air breathing. But to survive at all costs, mudskippers have to keep their bodies wet by rolling in mud or absorbing more water into their skin. Before going onto land, a mudskipper takes a big gulp of water and breathes by passing it through its gills. When the oxygen runs out, the mudskippers moist skin can absorb some oxygen from the air but the fish will soon have to resupply its oxygen by gulping more water. Some species of mudskippers can climb trees or rocks. There are even some species of mudskippers that can survive out of water for more than two days! During the breeding season, male mudskippers try to attract females by jumping up high into the air. The males then compete with each other by erecting their dorsal fins, gaping their mouths, and pushing each others bodies, sometimes biting each other in the process. When its time for spawning, the male mudskipper will dig a U-shaped hole, by using his mouth to bite off pieces of mud and spitting them outside of the burrow. After the tunnel is constructed, the female will then tunnel to the very end of the other side, which there is an air-filled chamber, to deposit her eggs. The eggs are attached to the air-filled walls, because the atmosphere is richer in oxygen than in the water. The male will then make hundreds of trips to the burrows entrance to gulp fresh breaths of air to resupply the air chambers atmosphere, where the eggs are kept. Only until all the eggs hatch does the father stop this job. youtube/watch?v=KurTiX4FDuQ
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 12:45:00 +0000
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