Roles of environmental cues for embryonic incubation and hatching in mudskippers

Abstract

Reproduction on mudflats requires that eggs are protected from different environmental challenges during development and hatch when environmental conditions are favorable for survival of juveniles. Mudskippers are air-breathing, amphibious gobies of the subfamily Oxudercinae, and one of a few vertebrates that reside on mudflats. They excavate burrows in mudflats and deposit eggs in them. However, these burrows are filled with extremely hypoxic water, in which eggs could not survive. To secure embryonic development within their burrows, the burrow-guarding parental fish (a male or mating pair) store fresh air in an egg chamber, located near the bottom or at mid-depth in a burrow, by transporting mouthfuls of air during each low tide. The Japanese mudskipper, Periophthalmus modestus, is the best-studied species regarding reproductive strategies. The air-supplying behavior appears to be predominantly governed by the oxygen levels within egg chambers, but also by some other factor that is possibly related to the tidal cycle. When embryonic development is complete, the burrow-guarding male P. modestus removes the air from the egg chamber and releases the air outside the burrow on a nocturnal rising tide. Consequently, the tide floods the egg chamber and induces hatching. Because P. modestus eggs only have a 5-6 day window for hatching competence, the male's initial selection of the position for the burrow in the intertidal zone and the timing of spawning relative to the tidal cycle are both important factors in hatching success. This is particularly crucial for those burrows in higher intertidal zones, which may be reached only by spring high tides. Not much is known for other mudskippers, but it is likely that they also employ similar reproductive strategies. The objective of this review is to summarize available information on reproductive strategies of mudskippers, and to discuss future directions to better elucidate mechanisms and adaptive significance for the reproduction of mudskippers. Further comparative studies with both mudskippers and other oxudercine gobies dwelling mudflats could shed new light on how vertebrates solved problems of reproduction when they expanded habitats to environments in an air-water interface.