hopping-fish

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

or Climbing-fish


n.

a fish of the north of New South Wales and of Queensland,P eriophthalmus australis, Castln., family Gobiidae. Called also Skipper.

1882. Rev. J. E. Tenison-Woods, `Fish of New South Wales,'p. 27:

«On the confines of the northern boundaries of New South Walesmay be seen a very remarkable Goby called the `Hopping-fish.'The pectoral fins are developed into regular legs, with whichthe fish hops or leaps along the mud flats . . . The eyes areon the top of the head, and very prominent, and moreover theycan be thrust very far out of their sockets, and movedindependently of one another, thus the fish can see longdistances around, and overtake the small crabs in spite of thelong stalks to their optics. It is a tropical form, yet it issaid to be found on the mud-flats of the Richmond River.»

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