Have You Ever Seen a Fish Walking?

WHAT A SIGHT! I was standing on the edge of a mangrove swamp, looking out at what I thought were empty mud flats. As it turns out, however, they were not empty. A peculiar troupe of acrobats were performing. Peculiar in what way? Each one was no more than six inches [15 cm] long. They were fish.

Although the thought of fish walking and jumping seems about as likely as elephants flying, this is precisely what I was seeing. But how can a fish walk, climb, and jump—yes, even breathe—while out of the water?

The fish that I saw are called mudskippers. Among their unusual attributes are their eyes, which pop out of their head and then retract. Another feature is their pectoral fins, which the mudskipper uses to propel itself over mud—much like a human can use crutches to move around. But how does a mudskipper jump? This unusual fish can flick itself forward with its tail, projecting itself as much as two feet [60 cm] through the air. Mudskippers are also accomplished civil engineers, using their fins as shovels to build burrows in the mud.

The mudskipper has a built-in oxygen tank—its mouth and gill chambers, which are kept full of water when it is “diving” on land. When the oxygen in its “tank” is used up, it scuttles off to a mud pool for a refill.

If you have access to mud flats in Africa or Asia and if you can endure mosquitoes and the tropical sun, why not try to look for the mudskipper? Then you too will be able to say that you have seen a fish walking!—Contributed.

[Picture Credit Lines on page 31]

Background: Jane Burton/Bruce Coleman Inc.

Inset images: Photographed by Richard Mleczko