The Fish That Walk on Land, an animated introduction to amphibious fish

We think of fish as completely aquatic animals. But there are actually hundreds of fish species that are amphibious, meaning that they possess adaptations that enable them to survive on land. Once on land, however, they face suffocation, drying up, and being hunted by land predators. So why do fish make the exodus from water to land?

Explore the spectrum of amphibious fish with this TED-Ed lesson from Noah R. Bressman: The fish that walk on land.

The video includes walking catfish, mudskippers, mosquitofish, mangrove rivulus, mummichog, grunion, lungfish, eel catfish, and the Nopoli rockclimbing goby, identifying the motivations and unique traits that help each species move onto and into the land.

This Dig Deeper on TED-Ed has additional information.

Watch these two videos next: The Mudskipper, an amazing amphibious fish and Fish and Frogs that Live Out of Water.