Mudskippers store air in their burrows

Mudskipper fishes can maintain their metabolism while they are confined in mudflat burrows filled with oxygen-depleted water, and their eggs, deposited in the burrows, can develop under severely hypoxic conditions. How they cope with such conditions has been unclear. We report here that a mudskipper...

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Published inNature (London) Vol. 391; no. 6664; pp. 237 - 238
Main Authors Ishimatsu, Atsushi, Hishida, Yasuhiro, Takita, Toru, Kanda, Takeshi, Oikawa, Shin, Takeda, Tatsusuke, Huat, Khoo Khay
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 15.01.1998
Subjects
Brackish
Carbon dioxide
Correspondence
Estuaries
Fish
Fishing
Gases
Hypoxia
Marine
Periophthalmodon schlosseri
Respiration
Penang Malaysia
Malaysia
ISEW, Malaysia, Malaya, Selangor
ISEW, Malaysia, Malaya, Pinang, Pinang Estuary
ISEW, Malaysia, Malaya, Pinang, Burung Estuary
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Summary:Mudskipper fishes can maintain their metabolism while they are confined in mudflat burrows filled with oxygen-depleted water, and their eggs, deposited in the burrows, can develop under severely hypoxic conditions. How they cope with such conditions has been unclear. We report here that a mudskipper species Periophthalmodon schlosseri (Fig. 1) accumulates air in its burrows. This behaviour seems to be an adaptation to provide oxygen for burrow-dwelling fish and for embryos developing in the burrows.
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ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/34560