Mudskipper fish of Kuwait

This video, recorded in India, is called Mudskipper (Boleophthalmus dussumieri) behaviour.

By Michael Pope:

May 12 2013

There are often quiet times in between coastal birding, especially during low-tide when the sea appears to fade away in the shimmering distance.

However, if you look more closely on the mud flats during low tide, you will find some interesting species and for this post these are inter-tidal Mudskippers; a fascinating species in their own right that are adapted for terrestrial environments and an amphibious life that is almost unrivaled.

In Kuwait, we have 3 species of inter-tidal Mudskippers and in this year I have been fortunate to find and photograph all 3. These gobies are amphibious air-breathers that live predominantly on inter-tidal mud flats and prove that fish can indeed walk.

The most common and largest is Boleophthalmus dussumieri. ‘Boleophthalmus’ depicts the capability of these fishs to rapidly raise their eyes above the level of their orbits, as if they were ejected out of their orbits

Periophthalmus waltoni (Walton’s Mudskipper) is smaller, but found together with dussumieri. I found that males in all species can be quite territorial and aggressive when defending their hole. ‘Periophthalmus’ refers to the wide visual field of these species

The last and one that took me the longest to find is Scartelaos tenuis (Slender Mudskipper); ‘Scartelaos’ probably refers to the typical tail-stand of males during courtship.

If you would like to learn more about this fascinating family, you can find all the information you need on http://www.mudskipper.it/index.html

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