I reckon that most of us just take it for granted that fish have to have water to live in, right? It seems that isn't always the case. Another case where Mother Nature has thrown us all a curve.
Killifish Overcome Their Watery Limitations
No matter how many abilities fish have, there’s still one universal rule: They’re stuck in the water. The mangrove killifish has found a way around even this immutable requirement, though. It can live inside of rotting trees and branches on land for months—it’s called “logpacking.” This is a fish that lives in trees. When pools dry up or the water recedes, mangrove killifish will jam into old trees, hollow coconuts, discarded coffee cans, or just under the leaf litter. As long as it’s kept moist, the killifish can survive like this for 66 days.
While other fish, like the lungfish, can survive without water for longer, they have to go into a dormant state, a kind of fish hibernation. Killifish maintain a normal metabolic state, so that as soon as the water hits, they jump up and take off. The secret is that their skin acts like an extra set of lungs to take in air and maintain salt levels. They are some of the most amphibious of all the amphibious fish . . . and they’re hermaphrodites. So while they’re living in a log waiting for the tide to come back, they can self-fertilize to pass the time.
Sounds to me like Mother Nature has kinda outdone herself this time. Of course, I say that every time I find an article like this one!
Coffee out on the patio today. It's supposed to cool off a bit, but we'll see!
