Fish live on ... trunk

A tropical fish living in mangrove swamps in the Americas can survive for months without water, similar to the way animals have adapted to the land millions of years ago.

Mangrove Rivulus, a small tropical fish (specializing in mosquito larvae) seeks shelter in shallow pools of crab caves, in coconut shells or even old beer cans in mangrove swamps in Belize, USA and Brazil. However, when the dwelling place dried up, they lived on land, in logs, Scott Taylor, a researcher at the Brevard County, Central Florida, USA program of environmental degradation.

Mangrove Rivulus fish can live on the trunk when the environment is dry.(Photo: Half life source)

This fish can be up to 7.5 cm long. They live in hollow logs left by insects and breathe in skin instead of carrying, until they meet again.

The team discovered this after a trip to Belize.

"We kicked a log and the fish shot out , " Taylor said. In laboratory tests, Taylor found that the fish could live up to 66 days in water without eating or drinking, while metabolism still took place.

No other fish can leave the water but still live as long as Mangrove Rivulus."They can live weekly without losing their metabolic rate. They still respond and function for weeks on land," said Patricia Wright, a biologist at the University of Guelph, Canada.

This fish may be holding the mysteries of animal evolution over time.

Thuan An