A catfish has been resuscitated with just a splash of water, in extraordinary video footage seen on Reddit.
The mummified catfish is seen breathing for the first time through its mouth, as water is poured on top of it's body.
The video is mind-blowing, but it's worth understanding that the suckermouth catfish - which is also known as the common pleco - is a species which has developed an ability to switch to a hibernation-like mode.
This means it can survive under dried hardened mud for months on end, with no access to water until the rain arrives.
Unlike many fish, plecos can also live up to 30 hours outside water if they store enough oxygen in their abdomens.
The species is extremely adaptable, and the air-breathing freshwater Suckermouth catfish weighs up to three pounds and relies on an accessory organ associated with the gill cavity that allows the pleco to breathe air.
They have gills for respiration and swim up to the surface to breathe air when less oxygen can be found in the water.
The air-breathing freshwater Suckermouth catfish is native to northern South America, and is named after its specialised mouth, which looks like a suction cup.
But plecos aren't the only air-breathers.
Their name indicates that African lungfish have also adapted to living on the edge, as their name indicates.
Whilst they rely on gills that interact with functional lungs to supply oxygen, they have also adapted to living through periods of drought by making small tunnels underground, or in the mud.
The small pods keep moisture around their bodies, whilst allowing enough air to circulate around them to allow them to breathe, with no water needed.
Incredibly, the African lungfish can live out of the water for up to four years.
They are prehistoric animals and have survived unchanged for nearly 400 million years, some people call them “living fossils.”
They are also much less active than other fish, with a very slow metabolism, at the bottom of a lakebed or riverbed. They are such inactive creatures that many aquarium owners mistakenly think their fish is dead.
The West African lungfish is an omnivore and east anything and everything from frogs, fish, and molluscs to tree roots and seeds. The adult lungfish also has no major predators which may be why they have lived for so many years.
