Identifying mudskippers

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AliN

Neighbourhood zookeeper
Oct 6, 2008
14
0
0
Montreal, Quebec
My local pet store (in Montreal, Quebec) recently acquired some mudskippers and my whole family is in love! I've been doing my best to research their requirements but I've hit a bit of a roadblock. No-one at the store knows which species of mudskipper they have! All they know is that they came from "a fish-farm in Singapore". I tried to identify them based on descriptions I found online, but they were not displaying their dorsal fins (and I'm not sure it would have mattered if they're juveniles).

I'm trying my best to be responsible and only bring them home when I'm sure I have a pretty good idea what I'm getting into. I have a 30 gal. tank which will be home to only one if it's a P. barbarus or possibly 3 or more if they're P. novemradiatus.

So, anyone got any advice or information for me?

Many thanks,

Alison
 

Sploke

resident boozehound
Staff member
Oct 20, 2005
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South Windsor, CT
Real Name
Matt
Best way to tell looks like dorsal rays(on first dorsal fin) - P. barbatus should have 11 dorsal rays (per fishbase) while P. novemradiatus should have 9, as the specific name indicates - novem = nine, radiatus = ray. (per http://www.themudskipper.org/SpeciesPages/nove.html). You might have to catch it in a net and hold it to count.
 

AliN

Neighbourhood zookeeper
Oct 6, 2008
14
0
0
Montreal, Quebec
I'm going to go back to the store when some of the staff that know me well are working and see if they'll do a little mudskipper physical exam for me.

Thanks for the advice!
 
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