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Living habits of mudskippers (Bounce Champion)

2023-03-29 08:31:04 149

In my country's coastal high tide zone or brackish estuary tidal flats, there lives a small fish with a body length of only tens of millimeters. It has a large and square head; its eyes are protruding and can rotate; there is a muscle handle at the base of the pectoral fin, which can be used as a Organs for supporting and crawling on land; the left and right pelvic fins heal into a sucker.


Mudskippers have the habit of looking for food out of the water, whenever the tide goes out. It often relies on the pectoral fin muscle stalks to crawl and jump on the mud to feed, or climbs to rocks and mangroves to hunt insects, or climbs to rocks to bask in the sun. When it comes out of the water, its well-developed gill chambers are filled with air, and its tail is immersed in the water to assist breathing. Living away from water has become an important habit for it. It can move as lively as a lizard on land, and its pectoral fin muscle handles can move forward and backward freely, functioning as the forelimbs of reptiles. In order to enhance its ability to crawl on land, the anal fin becomes very low and the rays on the lower lobe of the caudal fin become thicker. There is a rhythm when moving on the mud. Each step must be coordinated with the forward movement of the pectoral fins, that is, first step on the ground with the pectoral fins, and then drag the body forward. The steps are repeated quickly. When the pectoral fins move forward, the pelvic fins play a role in supporting the body. When it jumps a short distance, it only relies on the activity of its pectoral fins; when it jumps a distance of more than one meter, it must assist in tapping the ground with its tail. When it is impatient or frightened, it will jump long distances. Whenever the tide goes out, you can see mudskippers jumping around and chasing each other on the tidal flats. The mudskipper's vision is very sensitive, and it will quickly jump back into the water or burrow into caves or rock crevices when disturbed.

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