
Dusky Mud Hopper
Periophthalmus modestus
- Usual depth0–0 m
- Water temperature15–26 °C
- Best monthsApril, August, and September
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Jared Shorma, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
The shuttles hoppfish or shuttles mudskipper is a species of mudskippers native to fresh, marine and brackish waters of the western Pacific Ocean from Vietnam to Korea and Japan. This species occurs in muddy estuaries, tidal flats and swamps and marshes and is capable of remaining out of the water for up to 60 hours so long as it is kept moist. This species can reach a length of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) TL. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade and is also used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Shuttles hoppfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 35 records
- February: 50 records
- March: 59 records
- April: 213 records
- May: 119 records
- June: 147 records
- July: 176 records
- August: 241 records
- September: 185 records
- October: 176 records
- November: 97 records
- December: 37 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 0–0 m · Deepest record: 0.4 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 15–26 °C
Photos

(c) 祐, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) 國立臺灣博物館, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Hawk T., some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Dusky Mud Hopper, Shuttles Hoppfish
Names in 5 more languages
- German
- Gewöhnlicher Schlammspringer
- Spanish
- Saltarín del fango modesto
- Japanese
- Tobihaze, トビハゼ
- Korean
- 말뚝망둑어, 말뚝망둥어
- Simplified Chinese
- 廣東彈塗魚, 彈塗魚
Other scientific names: Apocryptes cantonensis, Cyprinus cantonensis, Pariophthalmus cantonensis, Periophthalmus cantonensis
Similar species
Barred mudskipperPeriophthalmus argentilineatus
Atlantic MudskipperPeriophthalmus barbarus
Gold-spotted MudskipperPeriophthalmus chrysospilos
Graceful MudskipperPeriophthalmus gracilis
Common mudskipperPeriophthalmus kalolo
Pearse's MudskipperPeriophthalmus novemradiatus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 517 open-data records from 1936 to 1990.
- Species data updated November 5, 2026.
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