^ Fauna : Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fish 



"climbing perch") which is also able to breathe and exist 

 for some hours on land. 



But as regards " Fish out of water," no form strikes the 

 visitor to the coast region of Liberia so forcibly as the Mud- 

 skipper or Bommi-fish (Periophthalmus koelreuteri). This little 

 creature, the appearance of which is perhaps sufficiently indicated 

 by my drawing, will hop about the sand and mud and even 

 climb on to low boughs and roots of trees, remaining out of 



314. THE BOMMI-FISH (PERIOPHTHALMUS) 



I 



the water (if unafraid) for some considerable time. The pectoral 

 fins are quite serviceable arms and the pelvic fins become a 

 kind of pedestal on which the body rests between the leaps. 

 Watching this little fish emerging from the water and pursuing 

 small insects and tiny crustaceans over the mud-flats in the 

 mangrove swamps, one realises the way in which by slow 

 degrees some fish genus of the Primary Epoch left the dreary 

 water-world to found the stock of the land vertebrates, under 



827 



