Periophthalmus Explained

Periophthalmus is a genus of fish in the family Oxudercidae that is native to coastal mangrove woods and shrubland in the Indo-Pacific region, except for P. barbarus, which lives on the Atlantic coast of Africa. It is one of the genera commonly known as mudskippers. Periophthalmus fishes are remarkable for using limited terrestrial locomotion and jumping to live temporarily out of water to feed on insects and small invertebrates. All Periophthalmus species are aggressive and territorial.

Species

There are currently 19 recognized species in this genus

• Periophthalmus argentilineatus Valenciennes, 1837 (Barred mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus barbarus (Linnaeus, 1766) (Atlantic mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus chrysospilos Bleeker, 1852
• Periophthalmus darwini Larson & Takita, 2004 (Darwin's mudskipper)^[1]
• Periophthalmus gracilis Eggert, 1935 (Graceful mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus kalolo Lesson, 1831 (Common mudskipper)^[2]
• Periophthalmus magnuspinnatus Y. J. Lee, Y. Choi & B. S. Ryu, 1995
• Periophthalmus malaccensis Eggert, 1935
• Periophthalmus minutus Eggert, 1935 (Minute mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus modestus Cantor, 1842 (Shuttles mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus novaeguineaensis Eggert, 1935 (New Guinea mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus novemradiatus (F. Hamilton, 1822) (Pearse's mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus pusing Jaafar, Polgar & Zamroni, 2016^[3]
• Periophthalmus spilotus Murdy & Takita, 1999
• Periophthalmus takita Jaafar & Larson, 2008 (Takita's mudskipper)^[4]
• Periophthalmus variabilis Eggert, 1935
• Periophthalmus walailakae Darumas & Tantichodok, 2002^[5]
• Periophthalmus waltoni Koumans, 1941 (Walton's mudskipper)
• Periophthalmus weberi Eggert, 1935 (Weber's mudskipper)

Notes and References

1. Larson, H.K. & Takita, T. (2004): Two New Species of Periophthalmus (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Oxudercinae) from Northern Australia, and a re-diagnosis of Periophthalmus novaeguineaensis. The Beagle: Records of the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory, 20: 175-185.
2. Polgar . G. . Zane . L. . Babbucci . M. . Barbisan . F. . Patarnello . T. . Rüber . L. . Papetti . C. . amp . Phylogeography and demographic history of two widespread Indo-Pacific mudskippers (Gobiidae: Periophthalmus) . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 2014 . 73 . 161–176 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.01.014. 24486991 .
3. Jaafar, Z., Polgar, G. & Zamroni, Y. (2016): Description of a new species of Periophthalmus (Teleostei: Gobiidae) from the Lesser Sunda Islands. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 64: 278–283.
4. Jaafar . Z. . Larson . H.K. . amp . A new species of mudskipper, Periophthalmus takita (Teleostei: Gobiidae: Oxudercinae), from Australia, with a key to the genus . Zoological Science . 2008 . 25 . 9 . 946–952 . 10.2108/zsj.25.946 . 19267605. 10659541 .
5. Darumas, U. & Tantichodok, P. (2002): A new species of mudskipper (Gobiidae: Oxudercinae) from southern Thailand. Phuket Marine Biology Center, Research Bulletin No. 64: 101–107.