The ‘mischievous’ fish can climb trees, do many of the strangest “monkey games” in the West

Aggressive, cunning, agile, mouth open full of fangs … are the characteristics found in the most strange fish in the West, named mudskipper. They have bulging eyes and are as big as marbles, protruding from the top of their heads, often living in groves or caves meters deep.

One characteristic that this fish possesses that is not found in any other fish is the ability to “climb trees”. They are not slow, but they climb “like lightning”. With rough black-gray skin, their fins are like two arms or paddle wheels, helping them to slither and crawl quickly over the mud, water, the ground, and climb trees.

They are only 2-3 fingers big, usually live in swamps, estuaries, mangrove forests, such as Ca Mau cape, U Minh Thuong forest… Especially, on International Earth Day In 2011, mudskippers were classified by the World Creatures as one of the six “strange” animals on the planet.

Mudfish in the wild. Photo: Internet

Close-up of the fish “climbing the tree”.

Mudfish caught in a trap. (Photo: Ca Mau Newspaper)

Mr. Sau Tuan (a shrimp farmer in a remote area in Ca Mau, Dam Doi) once shared in Lao newspaper that mudskippers can breathe when going ashore, exchanging gases through their skin like a frog. Their fins have a developed muscle system, where they choose to burrow to hide are often “dangerous”, such as groves, luxuriant roots… Their burrows can be up to 2 meters deep and have many nooks and crannies. .

A noticeable feature of the “tree-climbing” fish he pointed out is that this fish only comes out to feed when the water is high, and when the water is low, they will enter the burrow.

“People here often call it a tree-climbing fish. Many times when going out in a canoe outside (shrimp lake), I witnessed him do many “monkey games” such as climbing over mangrove trees, fish sauce…, But when someone approached, they jumped into the river,” Mr. Sau Tuan described to the above source.

According to Ca Mau newspaper, because mudskippers are very mischievous, they often dig a main cave and a side cave to easily escape when in danger, so they must have a lot of experience and techniques to catch them.

Mr. Nguyen Van Nhuan (Eco-tourism area of ​​Dat Mui commune) told this source that people who catch mudskippers need to observe whether the cave has fish or not, in order to place nets and rafters at the mouth of the cave. With turbid caves and fin markings, fish are guaranteed.

Mr. Danh Sang (a resident of Vien An commune, Ngoc Hien district) said, with many years of experience in the profession, he noticed that in caves with newly extruded soil and turbid water, there are “monster fish” inside. During a fishing session, dozens of nets that he placed caught fish, but he only caught the big ones and released the small ones. “I’m sorry to catch such a small fish. Even snails, clams, crabs, three-knots… are the same, if they’re still small, they’ll be released back into the forest,” he said.

Scenes of people wading through mud and catching mud crabs. (Photo cut from video of Ca Mau newspaper online)

Close-up of the fish “climbing the tree”.

In addition, “climbing” fish is considered a delicious specialty of the West, with a sweet, chewy, firm, non-fishy flesh. They can be used to bake with salt and pepper, cook sour soup, fry, and braise. For many years, eco-tourism sites in Ca Mau have let visitors experience wading and catching mudskippers by themselves.

According to soha.vn