Saturday, January 7, 2012

A Fish Who Walks Among Us

Mudskippers, Why and How do They Breath on Land?
When underwater these little guys breathe through gills like other fish. Even though,they can use their gills in water, mudskippers can't stay underwater all the time. 

Other fish suffocate when taken out of water because, their gills stick together and are unable to take in oxygen. Mudskippers can retain water in enlarged gill chambers which lock shut on land. 

Kind of like reverse scuba gear, their gills remain moist on land. 
They rotate their eyes to wash or rinse out the water. Which is located in the gill chambers.

When doing this they move the water around, and keep the gills fluffed up and oxygenated. 

*Photo Courtesy of:*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Periophthalmus_gracilis.jpg

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

what about the snake head it can do the same thing and it is bigger

50 Year Old Iguana

50 Year Old Iguana
*Picture Courtesy of Patrick Short*

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