To Understand How Mudskippers Reproduce, Scientists Need To Get Dirty

The mudskipper is the only fish that can live outside the water. Researching about this elusive fish is not an easy task so that there are a small number of facts about it. Even there is, the information is skeptical to trust.

Atsushi Ishimatsu from the University of Nagasaki and her team found information about its reproduction thanks to their patience and motivation. When this amphibious fish’s time of breeding comes, males need to complete several tasks.

First of all, male mudskipper digs a burrow to live, hatch their eggs and hide from the predators. Then, they try to impress the female by using their fins to jump and if it succeeds, she follows the male to a burrow for procreation.

They hatch their eggs in the ceiling of the burrow. Then, the males go out to inhale the air over and over again for the eggs. He exhales air to his eggs after inhaling and this is how males fertilize its children.

According to the Ishimatsu’s recording, the eggs go out of the burrow after hatching.

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2020/03/mudskipper-builds-ideal-nest-for-his-offspring/