Bringing a fish out of water means ‘its dead’, and most of us are aware of the fact and this is a matter of worry even for scientists who foresee a drought-struck world with big major rivers dramatically drying up.
But, here seems to be a ray of hope for some fish to thrive the planet even in extreme conditions for months! No, this is not yet another crazy genetic engineering of the impertinent scientists. It is an amazing and interesting discovery of a tropical fish living in mangrove swamps across the Americas.
The small tropical killifish, Mangrove Rivulus can survive even when kept out of water for months at a stretch! This is precisely quite similar to the ways animals adapted to land in ancient times. So, is this fish in its evolutionary phase? It is perhaps too early to comment or analyze on it.
Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program in central Florida told Reuters,
We kicked over a log and the fish just came tumbling out.
Growing as large as three inches, the fish — Rivulus marmoratus — groups together to live in logs mostly hollowed out by insects. And, interestingly, when on land, they breathe air through their skin and not gill!
So, next time you trek into the tropical mangrove swamps of United States and Brazil, don’t be surprised by the fish coming out in group form shallow water pools, crab burrows, coconut shells or even old beer cans!
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