From water to land: the ontogeny of Persian mudskippers

• Applicant: Dr. Egon Heiss
• Subject Area: Systematics and Morphology (Zoology)
• Term: from 2017 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386556699

Transitions from aquatic to terrestrial lifestyles were amongst the most challenging events in vertebrate evolution and cleared the way for the invasion of land by tetrapods which developed from fish-like ancestors. Such environmental transitions demand adaptations of many functional systems, from breathing and locomotion up to feeding out of water. Tetrapods, however, were not the only vertebrates that evolved semi-terrestrial forms and terrestrial adaptations emerged independently in different actinopterygian groups. One of the best known examples are the gobiiform mudskippers (Oxudercinae) that start their life as pelagic larva which metamorphoses to a semiterrestrial form that spends up to 90% of its active life on land. Therefore, mudskippers offer a unique possibility to study functional adaptations demanded by transitions from aquatic to terrestrial life during their ontogeny, as a parallel phenomenon to tetrapod history. Only few postmetamorphic mudskipper species were studied to date in the light of terrestrial adaptations and even less is known on the biology and anatomy of their larvae or the dramatic remodeling during metamorphosis. Here, we propose a project designed to collect larval and adult stages of three poorly studied mudskipper species in the mangrove forests of Qeshm Island, Iran, to study changes across metamorphosis of the respiratory system, the feeding apparatus and the locomotor system.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Iran
• Co-Investigators: Navid Mohaghegh Harandi; Dr. Peter Warth
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Asghar Abdoli; Professor Dr. Bahram Hasanzadeh Kiabi