SARCOPTERGII: LEPIDOSIRENIFORMES: PROTOPTERIDAE: Protopterus

Protopterus annectens Owen

African lungfish

Photo by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

Range: Swampy and seasonally dry areas of central and southern Africa.

Diagnosis:

Description: A large-scaled ell-like fish with thin rod-like pectoral fins and a thin arrow-shaped caudal fin. Lungfishes may grow in excess of 24 inches.

Natural History: Lungfishes are best known for their unusual ability to survive droughts. As ponds and swamps dry out, the fishes burrow deep into the mud and secrete a mucous membrane around themselves. When the pond dries, the fish is encapsulated in a hard protective enclosure with a moist interior, where they remain dormant until rains refill the pond. At that time the fish emerges, unscathed.

Reproduction: Egg layer.

Taxonomy & Relationships: There are three groups of living lungfishes, all residents of the Southern Hemisphere. The African lungfish is most similar to the South American genus Lepidosiren.

Variation:

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

Literature:

Axelrod, H., C. Emmens, W. Burgess and N. Pronek. 1986. Exotic tropical fishes. Expanded edition. TFH Publications. ISBN: 0-87666-543-1.