Flies are generally irritating. A single fly is bad enough. We've all been buzzed by that single bee which took a fancy to us despite our best efforts to get away from it. What more a cloud of flies? And flies which bite are much worse. It's not only humans who are disturbed by them but also the other fauna that inhabit whichever particular ecosystems the flies present themselves at. Mangroves are no exception to many types of flies ... especially biting ones.
The clip shows a giant mudskipper being swamped by what seems to be a horde of tiny mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are frequently seen settling on mudskippers but rarely in such a horde.
The mudskipper tries to get rid of them by swatting at them using its pectoral fins or quickly rolling over in a shallow muddle. Occasionally, it would wallow in the mud coating it's outer skin with mud. The mud coat seems to give it a temporary reprieve from the attacking horde. A combination of all these actions seems to work to some degree ensuring that no mozzie settles for more than a few seconds at a time. However, there are times when the mudskipper rests on the mud for quite some time without bothering much about the mozzies continuing with its daily burrow maintenance by spitting out mouthfuls of mud occasionally blinking away some of the annoying mozzies.
Read more about giant mudskippers here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/gobiidae/schlosseri.htm
More video clips about mozzies and giant mudskippers : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/gobiidae/schlosseri1v.htm
Location Info : viewed from the main hide at SBWR(www.sbwr.org.sg)
The clip shows a giant mudskipper being swamped by what seems to be a horde of tiny mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are frequently seen settling on mudskippers but rarely in such a horde.
The mudskipper tries to get rid of them by swatting at them using its pectoral fins or quickly rolling over in a shallow muddle. Occasionally, it would wallow in the mud coating it's outer skin with mud. The mud coat seems to give it a temporary reprieve from the attacking horde. A combination of all these actions seems to work to some degree ensuring that no mozzie settles for more than a few seconds at a time. However, there are times when the mudskipper rests on the mud for quite some time without bothering much about the mozzies continuing with its daily burrow maintenance by spitting out mouthfuls of mud occasionally blinking away some of the annoying mozzies.
Read more about giant mudskippers here : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/gobiidae/schlosseri.htm
More video clips about mozzies and giant mudskippers : http://www.wildsingapore.com/wildfacts/vertebrates/fish/gobiidae/schlosseri1v.htm
Location Info : viewed from the main hide at SBWR(www.sbwr.org.sg)
