Blue-spotted Mudskipper

About

The blue-spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus boddarti) is one of those fish that makes you question what a fish is supposed to be. Native to estuaries, mudflats, and tidal zones stretching from India across to New Guinea and north into China, with populations also documented in the Persian Gulf, this species spends a remarkable amount of its life completely out of the water. Those bulging, independently mobile eyes are a dead giveaway. They scan the air above the mud just as readily as any underwater view. In the wild, this mudskipper browses on algae and small crustaceans called harpacticoids while shuffling across tidal flats on its pectoral fins, retreating to burrows it digs in the substrate. In an aquarium setting, it needs a proper paludarium-style setup with significant muddy or sandy exposed land area, since denying it time out of the water ignores its fundamental biology. Despite the unusual care requirements, it is actually considered manageable for beginners willing to research the setup properly. It can reach close to nine inches as an adult and, given good conditions, may live close to a decade. The fish occasionally turns up in food markets across its range, which tells you something about how widespread and hardy it is.