An odd fish

Scientists have found out more about a bizarre fish that spends almost all of its life on land and avoiding water.

The Pacific leaping blenny lives in the rocky intertidal zones (the land between high and low tides) of Micronesia, a group of thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Although it has no legs, the blenny can twist its body and flick its tail to jump distances many times its own body length. These strange creatures need to keep their skin moist so that they can breathe through their gills and skin, but they spend most of their time in holes in the rock, and even avoid incoming waves when they’re feeding.

Writing in Ethology, Dr Terry Ord says that the blenny has a “surprisingly complex” social life. The males use complicated displays to attract females and warn off rivals, while the females will defend their feeding grounds aggressively. Dr Ord also says that it seems like the females will lay their eggs in their mate’s rock hole, but then leave and let the male guard the eggs.

Experts think that the blenny gives them an amazing chance to see how land-dwelling species can evolve from an aquatic one.

You can see one of Dr Ord’s videos of the blenny below. Let us know what you think and leave your comments!

Image by Gina Cooke, UNSW

Comments (0)

There are no comments at the moment.

You may add a comment about this video by logging in to your account.