Fish of water as well as land: Blue-spotted Mudskipper in Sundarbans, India

From the archive record

Mudskippers are fish that often spend more time on land than in water. In fact, a mudskipper will drown if it's never able to leave the water. Like other fish, mudskippers breathe by means of gills, but in addition, they absorb oxygen through their skin and the linings of their mouths and throats. Mudskippers belong to the goby family (the Gobiidae) and the subfamily Oxudercinae. Unlike other gobies, mudskippers can live both in the water and on land. Mudskippers have their eyes on the top of their heads and their excellent eyesight allows them to spot prey and predators from afar. Their pair of dextrous and muscular leg-like pectoral fins enable them to crawl over the mud and to even climb trees. To top it all, mudskippers are also good to eat - once they have been kept in clean water for