The mud dabbler

[Prajwal J Ullal]

ID: Mud skipper

One of the most intriguing beauties along the muddy/mangrove-ish terrain (correct me if wrong) are these mud skippers, though they may look gentle, but the aggression these show for the territorial disputes are very scary, atleast for the ones who are not aware of these beauties. Though, when they are not fighting for their territory, these seem to spend some candid time utilizing the variation in the tides. Here is one such instance where the rising tide seem to seeping up slowly, with thin stream of muddy water climbing up slowly, this beautiful specimen seemed to start popping bubbles, unsure if its something to do with its behavior or just an accidental sight (would love to learn a bit more about them, from the experts)

EXIF:
Canon 80D
Canon 55-250 IS
F/8
Shutter speed 1/400
ISO 250

Handheld, No flash fired

Location: Thane

[Mrudul Godbole]

Had seen them during the shoot in Airoli and also in Sunderbans. Had not known that they are very aggressive regarding there territorial disputes. Interesting behaviour captured. Thanks for sharing.

P.S - Tagging Saktida, maybe he can shed some light on this behaviour. Thanks.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The mudskippers have unique adaptations. They have gills as well as engage in cutaneous respiration ie breathing through skin in the mouth and throat region. So they can breathe both in and out of water. They engage in different types of displays to attract females. After mating mudskippers lay eggs in the burrows. They can stay in the burrow for a long time and survive bad water. While shooting for our film Jewels of Thane Creek we saw that when Ganesha idols were dumped into the creek the water turned bad. There was a black layer on water for two days. In that period we didn't sight the mudskippers. They remained hidden and then came out days later when the water was ok.