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Mudskipper — printable fact sheet
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Mudskipper
Periophthalmus barbarus
The mudskipper is a fish that spends most of its life out of water and would drown if it could not get out. It breathes through its skin and through the lining of its mouth and throat, all of which must stay wet, so it carries a mouthful of water around like a scuba tank and rol…
Did you know?
- Mudskippers can absorb oxygen directly through their moist skin and the lining of their mouth, allowing them to survive out of water for hours at a time.
- A fish that lives mostly on land, breathing through its skin and the lining of its mouth — which it keeps wet by carrying a mouthful of water. It "walks" on its pectoral fins and climbs mangrove roots. It blinks by retracting each eye into a socket of water. Males carry mouthfuls of air down into their burrows to build an air pocket so the eggs do not suffocate in anoxic mud.
What I learned
Draw the mudskipper
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