FreshwaterBrackishSaltwater
Atlantic mudskipper
Periophthalmus barbarus
Oxudercidae, Periophthalminae
Facts
Characteristics
- Length
- Up to 14.7 cm
- Body shape
- Streamlined
Care
- Group
- Missing
- Smallest aquarium
- 87 liters
- Diet
- Missing
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Behavior
Water values
Smallest tank
Range
Native
Lives wild in Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Cameroon, Congo - Brazzaville, Congo - Kinshasa, Côte d’Ivoire, and 17 more countries.
More about the species
Description
Found on muddy substrates and in brackish waters of estuaries, lagoons and mangrove swamps. Occasionally found in freshwater, but always close to the shore. Amphibious air-breather that skips or walks on sand or mud in search of food; that is, on exposed intertidal mud flats of estuarine mangrove swamps. Adult feed chiefly on arthropods (crabs, insects, etc.) of the mud surface. Also included in the diet is the white mangrove, Avicennia nitida. Spawn in burrows. Maximum reported total length 165 mm; reports of larger specimens, up to 250 mm TL, are probably misidentifications of other species.
Other names
Other scientific names
- Gobius barbarus
- Gobius koelreuteri
- Periophtalmus barbarus
- Periophtalmus barbatus
- Periophtalmus koelrenteri
- Periophtalmus koelreuteri
In other languages
- Afrikansk dyndspringer
- Jumbo fish, Mud-hopper, Mud-skipper, Mudskipper
Articles
All articles
How to set up an African aquarium5 min read
Two completely different aquariums: forest rivers with soft, brown water, roots and leaves, and Rift Valley lake cichlids in hard, alkaline water with big rock piles.
How to set up an Asian aquarium5 min read
Two aquariums from Southeast Asia: calm forest streams and peat swamps with soft, brown water, and fast mountain streams with cool, oxygen-rich water.
How to set up an aquarium from Australia and New Guinea4 min read
The home of rainbowfish: water, substrate, plants and light for rainbowfish, blue-eyes and peacock gudgeons, with a long aquarium and open water in the middle.
How to add new fish4 min read
From the store to the tank: how to get the fish used to your water, why you should add only a few at a time, and what to watch for in the first few days.