Mudskippers store air in their burrows

Direct evidence for aerial egg deposition in the burrows of the Malaysian mudskipper, Periophthalmodon schlosseri

“…Our finding of air storage in mudskipper burrows sheds a new light on this question (Ishimatsu et al 1998a). We have shown that variable volumes of gas are present in burrows of the Malaysian mudskipper, Periophthalmodon schlosseri (the volume ranging from 55 to over 4,000 ml per burrow).…”

“…1; see also Ishimatsu et al 1998a). The bottom horizontal tunnels of the burrows we studied here were at 60-100 cm depth from the mudflat surface.…”

“…pectinirostris) lay their eggs in burrows (Clayton 1993). Mudskipper burrows often have some kind of diverticulum where eggs are usually found (Kobayashi et al 1971;Brillet 1976;Ishimatsu et al 1998aIshimatsu et al , 2000Ishimatsu et al , 2007. Eggs are adhered to the walls and roofs of egg chambers with filamentous attachment threads, except in the case of P. argentilineatus (see Brillet 1976).…”

“…Eggs are adhered to the walls and roofs of egg chambers with filamentous attachment threads, except in the case of P. argentilineatus (see Brillet 1976). However, the development of mudskipper embryos in the burrows has long been an enigma (Gordon 1995), since mudskipper burrows are always filled with severely hypoxic 4 water that would not permit embryonic development (Ishimatsu et al 1998a(Ishimatsu et al , b, 2000.…”

“…The purpose of the present study was to obtain indisputable evidence for the presence of air in egg chambers and mudskipper embryos therein egg chambers by observing the interiors of intact mudskipper burrows with an endoscope. We have chosen P. schlosseri for this purpose because it excavates burrows that are large enough to manually insert an endoscope into the egg chamber (Ishimatsu et al 1998a(Ishimatsu et al , 2000.…”