𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺: 𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗠𝘂𝗱𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀

Image credit: An Atlantic Mudskipper rests on the sandy beach of the aqua-terrarium.

The National Museum is pleased to announce that its latest live display, Atlantic Mudskippers, has been reopened! Atlantic Mudskippers 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑠 (Atlantiese Klimvis) are aquatic fish that spend much of their life out of water, breathing through their skin or using water stored in their gills. They live in brackish water, which is a mixture of salt water and fresh water. Although they look a little odd – their eyes are set on top of their heads and they use powerful fins to skip, climb, crawl or even jump on land – you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled to spot them as they blend in with the rocks in their aqua-terrarium, and our current pair are very shy.

Mudskippers can be quite challenging to keep as they require salty, heated water and warm air temperatures, lots of places above-water to hide and forage, and suitable prey food (we feed them bloodworms). Our mudskippers have travelled all the way from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so please join us in welcoming these unique fish to Bloemfontein!

𝗧𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘆 Dr Cora Stobie (Department of Animal and Plant Systematics).