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Mudskippers Animal Themes

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Mudskippers
Print Mudskippers Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Mudskippers Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.53

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		unthinkable, forte, pelvic, arm-like, sunfish, mudskippers, mangrove, aqua-free, mudskipper, up-close, warning, absorb, thus, extremely, underside, fishy
	content words:		Indian Oceans

Other Languages
     Spanish: Los Peces del Fango

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Mudskippers

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¹     Mudskippers are small (up to 12 inches in length) but extremely unusual. Though they may not be as ferocious as great white sharks, as big as ocean sunfish, as colorful as clown fish, or as speedy as tuna, they possess one forte that none of these fishes have. That specialty is to stay out of water!
 
²     That's right! Mudskippers are often seen hopping across mud flats near mangrove swamps or river estuaries along the coasts of Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Their movement on land is so swift that they look more comfortable there than they do in water. Nevertheless, mudskippers are fish after all. Thus, they never stray far from water's edge and can only go on "aqua-free" up to a couple of days.
 
³     How can mudskippers survive without water? Well, it turns out that they have several unique adaptations that allow them to accomplish this otherwise unthinkable fishy task. To start with, mudskippers have different ways to breathe depending on where they are. If underwater, they use their gills to absorb dissolved oxygen as most fishes do. But before they get ready to go ashore, they enlarge their gill chambers and fill them with water. Once on land, they rely on these special "oxygen tanks" to supply their blood with oxygen. Alternatively, they can also breathe through their moist skin that contains a complex network of blood capillaries. To keep their skin wet at all times, mudskippers often roll in puddles or have their tails immersed -- a habit that misled earlier scientists to conclude that mudskippers used their tails to breathe.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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Animal Themes

Animal Themes

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Fish

Fish

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Animals

Amphibians         Birds         Deserts         Fish         Freshwater         Grasslands         Insects

Invertebrates         Mammals         Oceans         Polar Regions         Rain Forest         Reptiles

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