  The phrase "fish out of water" implies a severe lack of preparedness for a challenging environment. Yet, mudskipper fish manage exceedingly well, having carved a niche for themselves on the tidal mudflats throughout tropical Africa, Asia and Australasia. Not only can they breathe air, they also can crawl and leap on the shores just as easily as they can swim — and they actually prefer being on land. Through tireless effort, they patrol their surface domains and maintain vast subterranean chambers underneath.
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Watch "Mudskippers Fight Over Territory"
BATTLE OF THE MUDSKIPPERS
They might just be another fish in the sea, but on shore, each mudskipper is nothing short of a territorial warlord.
"Their territories are exposed twice a day, so the males definitely have to defend their territories all the time," said
Life assistant producer Simon Blakeney. "Each time the mud gets washed away, their territory changes slightly. So they have to reassert their dominance."
While a human warlord might scan the limits of his domain from a fortified tower, the mudskipper depends on a keen set of eyes situated at the top of its large, triangular head. Ruling the mudflats involves far more than just surveying the shores; it also means battling encroaching rivals.
The resulting melees are spectacular displays, especially as captured by the
Life team's high-speed cameras. The large
Boleophthalmus pectinirostris mudskippers raise their blue-speckled dorsal fins and expand their jaws, leaping and writhing as they confront their enemies.
"They were really feisty, just amazingly feisty, for something so small," Blakeney said.
When the battle ends, both mudskippers return to the constant toil of maintaining their domains, as well as scrounging up a meal.
"The larger species feed on mainly sort of an algae that are in the mud," Blakeney said. "You see them sort of grating their heads from side to side. They're filtering mud when they do that. The smaller species are actually more carnivorous. They also eat algae, but they mainly feed on worms and things that live in the mud. They're quite ferocious actually when they find something like that."
Continue: Mudskipper Excavations
