190
WILLIAM MACNAE
FIG. 65. Boleophthalmus boddaerti " grazing " on the mud below the seaward fringe a t
(From a photograph by I. Polunin.)
Benut (South Malaya) (size of fish 15 cm).
mud-skippers behave as though each is strongly territorial, especially
during the breeding season when the available and suitable terrain is
occupied by more or less evenly scattered males, each usually accompanied by a single female. The territory is centred on a nest burrow,
and defence is strongest when pairs have been formed. At the breeding
FIG. 66. Boleophthalmus boddaerti on the mud at Benut, South Johore, Malaya. Just
out of focus are a second specimen of Boleophthalmus, curled and with raised dorsal
fin, and two specimens of Periophthalmus chrysospilos. (I. Polunin.)
WILLIAM MACNAE
FIG. 65. Boleophthalmus boddaerti " grazing " on the mud below the seaward fringe a t
(From a photograph by I. Polunin.)
Benut (South Malaya) (size of fish 15 cm).
mud-skippers behave as though each is strongly territorial, especially
during the breeding season when the available and suitable terrain is
occupied by more or less evenly scattered males, each usually accompanied by a single female. The territory is centred on a nest burrow,
and defence is strongest when pairs have been formed. At the breeding
FIG. 66. Boleophthalmus boddaerti on the mud at Benut, South Johore, Malaya. Just
out of focus are a second specimen of Boleophthalmus, curled and with raised dorsal
fin, and two specimens of Periophthalmus chrysospilos. (I. Polunin.)