Mini Review

A Review of Recent Status on Mudskippers (Oxudercine Gobies) in Indonesian Waters

Pormansyah¹, Muhammad Iqbal¹*, Arum Setiawan², Indra Yustian² and Hilda Zulkifli²

¹Conservation Biology Programe, Faculty of Science, Sriwijaya University

²Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Sriwijaya University

Submission: January 17, 2019; Published: March 27, 2019

*Correspondence author: Muhammad Iqbal, Conservation Biology Programe, Faculty of Science, Sriwijaya University, Jalan Padang Selasa 524, Palembang 30139, Indonesia

How to cite this article:Pormansyah, Muhammad Iqbal, Arum S, Indra Y, Hilda Z. A Review of Recent Status on Mudskippers (Oxudercine Gobies) in Indonesian Waters. Oceanogr Fish Open Access J. 2019; 9(4): 555769. DOI: 10.19080/OFOAJ.2019.09.555769

Abstract

The status of valid species and distributional range of mudskippers (oxudercine gobies) in Indonesian waters are reviewed here. There are 24 species of mudskippers recently recorded. Refered to seven largest islands region in Indonesia, Sumatra has largest number of mudskippers (14 species), following Java (12 species, Lesser Sundas (11 species), Kalimantan (9 species), West Papua (9 species), Sulawesi (8 species) and Moluccas (8 species). Further research is required to clarify distributional range and to adress conservation challenge of mudskippers in Indonesian waters.

Keywords: Review; Mudskipper; Oxudercine gobies; Oxudercidae; Indonesian waters; Diversity

Introduction

Mudskippers or oxudercine gobies are amphibious fishes native to the Indo-West Pacific and tropical western Africa [1]. Ten mudskipper genera are recognized [2]; and of these, four genera, Boleophthalmus, Periophthalmodon, Periophthalmus and Scartelaos, conspicuously emerge out of water to display, forage and defend territories during ebb tides [3]. The mudskippers provide a rich source for comparative studies in adaptation to the littoral habitat. Within the Indo-Pacific, mudskippers are distributed longitudinally from the Red Sea (East Africa, 40° E) to Samoa (Tonga, 165° W) and latitudinally from Japan (35° N) to Australia (20° S) [2,4]. Indonesia archipelagos are the main regions of the Indo-West Pacific which have the richest marine life. The Indonesian coastal zone is rich in tropical marine ecosystems such as estuarial beaches, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass and algal beds and small island ecosystems which are homes of different varieties of living communities with various types of mode association as well as richness in species diversity [5]. Most of Indonesian mangrove-asociated fish species are widely distributed throughout the central Indo-west Pacific region, including mudskippers [6]. Recent phylogenetic studies, supported by morphological data, have provided evidence that the oxudercine gobies treat as family Oxudercidae [7], but further discussions still running to facilitate their taxonomical status. In this paper, we review and summarize update current knowledge of the mudskippers in Indonesian waters.

Mudskippers in Indonesian Waters

Distribution abbreviations, S = Sumatara, K = Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), J = Java, S = Sulawesi, M = Moluccas, L = Lesser Sunda, P = Papua (West Papua, Indonesian Papua), + = recorded, ?= presumed, but need confirmation

There are 24 species of mudskippers recently recorded in Indonesian waters (Table 1). This checklist was compiled and shortlisted from recent major references of oxudercine gobies [2,4,8-20]. The fishes were divided within seven largest islands region of Indonesia, where faunal regions match administrative boundaries and has no political significance [21]. Refered to seven largest islands region in Indonesia, Sumatra has largest number of mudskippers (14 species), following Java (12 species, Lesser Sundas (11 species), Kalimantan (9 species), West Papua (9 species), Sulawesi (8 species) and Moluccas (8 species). We presumed the low number of mudskippers species in Sulawesi and Moluccas are correlated with lacking of local researchers and ichthyologists on the both islands. For the example, recent field work in Sumatra revealed that Periophthalmodon septemradiatus recorded further to the southern Sumatra (Figure 1) [22]. If number of local researchers and ichthyologists increasing interest in mudskippers, more number of species could be also add to regional islands list.

Conservation Challenge in the Future

The conservation of the mangrove ecosystem is important especially for an archipelagic area such as Indonesia. In recent decades, mangrove habitats have been rapidly reduced and degraded, to current global estimates of less than 138,000 km2 of mangrove forests remaining [23]. In Indonesia, 2,548,209.42 hectares (27%) are in good conditions, 4,510,456.61 hectares (48%) are in poor conditions and 2,146,174.29 ha (23%) are in damaged conditions [24]. Like mudskippers, mangrove plants are adapted to different environments in the coastal zone, and display distinct community zonation from low to high water or topography (Figure 2), based on changes in inundation and salinity [25]. The status of all mudskipers species are not listed as threatened under the International` Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species [26]. Nor species also listed as one of protected fish by Government of Indonesia [27]. However, yet mangrove areas continue to be deforested at unprecedented rates, we propose mudskipper as bioindicator of conservation challenge for focal faunistic species that associated with mangrove forests.

Conclusion

The valid species and distributional range of mudskippers in Indonesian waters are presented here. This reveiew reflect that further research is required to justify distributional range and to adress conservation challenge of muskippers in Indonesian waters, especially in the area where mangrove forests are concentrated and rarely visited by ichthyologists.

Acknowledgement

We are very grateful to Julia Hampton for inviting us to submit a paper to Oceanography & Fisheries Open Access Journal

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