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| ==Description== | ==Description== | ||
| African lungfishes are elongated, eel-like fishes, with thread-like ] and ]s. They have soft scales, and the ] and ]s are fused into a single structure. They can either swim like eels, or crawl along the bottom, using their pectoral and pelvic fins.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor=Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.|author= Bruton, Michael N.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 70-72|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref> The largest species reach about {{convert|200|cm|ft}} long.<ref name=FB>{{ |
African lungfishes are elongated, eel-like fishes, with thread-like ] and ]s. They have soft scales, and the ] and ]s are fused into a single structure. They can either swim like eels, or crawl along the bottom, using their pectoral and pelvic fins.<ref name=EoF>{{cite book |editor=Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.|author= Bruton, Michael N.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Fishes|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 70-72|isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref> The largest species reach about {{convert|200|cm|ft}} long.<ref name=FB>{{FishBase family|family=Lepidosirenidae|year=2009|month=January}}</ref> | ||
| African lungfishes generally inhabit shallow waters such as swamps and marshes, however they also found in larger lakes such as ]. They can live out of water for many months in burrows of hardened mud beneath a dried-up stream bed. They are carnivorous, eating ]s, aquatic insect larvae, and ]s.<ref name=EoF/> | African lungfishes generally inhabit shallow waters such as swamps and marshes, however they also found in larger lakes such as ]. They can live out of water for many months in burrows of hardened mud beneath a dried-up stream bed. They are carnivorous, eating ]s, aquatic insect larvae, and ]s.<ref name=EoF/> | ||
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| The African lungfish is an example of how the evolutionary transition from breathing water to breathing air happens. Lungfish are periodically exposed to water with low oxygen content or situations into which their aquatic environment dries up. Their adaptation for dealing with these conditions is an outpocketing of the gut, related to the ] of other fishes, that serves as a lung.<ref name=EoF/> The lung contains many thin-walled blood vessels, so blood flowing through those vessels can pick up oxygen from air gulped into the lung. | The African lungfish is an example of how the evolutionary transition from breathing water to breathing air happens. Lungfish are periodically exposed to water with low oxygen content or situations into which their aquatic environment dries up. Their adaptation for dealing with these conditions is an outpocketing of the gut, related to the ] of other fishes, that serves as a lung.<ref name=EoF/> The lung contains many thin-walled blood vessels, so blood flowing through those vessels can pick up oxygen from air gulped into the lung. | ||
| The African lungfishes are obligate air breathers, with reduced gills in the adults. They have two anterior ]es that retain gills so it can breathe either air or water.{{ |
The African lungfishes are obligate air breathers, with reduced gills in the adults. They have two anterior ]es that retain gills so it can breathe either air or water.{{Vague|date=January 2009}}<!--This is unclear: if they can breathe water, then they're not obligate air-breathers, are they?--> The lungfish heart has adaptations that partially separate the flow of blood into its pulmonary and systemic circuits. The ] is partially divided, to that the left side receives oxygenated blood and the right side receives deoxygenated blood from the other tissues. These two blood streams remain mostly separate as they flow through the ] leading to the gill arches. As a result oxygenated blood mostly goes to the anterior gill arches and the deoxygenated blood mostly goes to the posterior arches. | ||
| African lungfishes breed at the beginning of the rainy season. They construct nests or burrows in the mud to hold their eggs, which they then guard against predators. When they hatch, the young resemble ]s, with ]s, and only later develop lungs and begin to breath air.<ref name=EoF/> | African lungfishes breed at the beginning of the rainy season. They construct nests or burrows in the mud to hold their eggs, which they then guard against predators. When they hatch, the young resemble ]s, with ]s, and only later develop lungs and begin to breath air.<ref name=EoF/> | ||
Revision as of 00:59, 6 February 2009
| African lungfish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Protopterus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Sarcopterygii |
| Subclass: | Dipnoi |
| Order: | Lepidosireniformes |
| Family: | Protopteridae |
| Genus: | Protopterus |
| Species | |
The African lungfishes are the genus Protopterus and constitute the four species of lungfish found in Africa. Protopterus is the sole genus in the family Protopteridae.
Description
African lungfishes are elongated, eel-like fishes, with thread-like pectoral and pelvic fins. They have soft scales, and the dorsal and tail fins are fused into a single structure. They can either swim like eels, or crawl along the bottom, using their pectoral and pelvic fins. The largest species reach about 200 centimetres (6.6 ft) long.
African lungfishes generally inhabit shallow waters such as swamps and marshes, however they also found in larger lakes such as Lake Victoria. They can live out of water for many months in burrows of hardened mud beneath a dried-up stream bed. They are carnivorous, eating crustaceans, aquatic insect larvae, and molluscs.
Biology
The African lungfish is an example of how the evolutionary transition from breathing water to breathing air happens. Lungfish are periodically exposed to water with low oxygen content or situations into which their aquatic environment dries up. Their adaptation for dealing with these conditions is an outpocketing of the gut, related to the swim bladder of other fishes, that serves as a lung. The lung contains many thin-walled blood vessels, so blood flowing through those vessels can pick up oxygen from air gulped into the lung.
The African lungfishes are obligate air breathers, with reduced gills in the adults. They have two anterior gill arches that retain gills so it can breathe either air or water. The lungfish heart has adaptations that partially separate the flow of blood into its pulmonary and systemic circuits. The atrium is partially divided, to that the left side receives oxygenated blood and the right side receives deoxygenated blood from the other tissues. These two blood streams remain mostly separate as they flow through the ventricle leading to the gill arches. As a result oxygenated blood mostly goes to the anterior gill arches and the deoxygenated blood mostly goes to the posterior arches.
African lungfishes breed at the beginning of the rainy season. They construct nests or burrows in the mud to hold their eggs, which they then guard against predators. When they hatch, the young resemble tadpoles, with external gills, and only later develop lungs and begin to breath air.
As food
Native Africans have been found to dig up lungfishes, burrow and all, and store it for later use when they want fresh fish to eat. These fish have also been carried in their mud burrows for exhibition in the United States. They have a strong taste. The taste is such that "it is locally either highly appreciated or strongly disliked". As technology advancements such as longlines and gillnets have been increasingly applied in the Lake over the past fifty years, it is believed that the lungfish populations there are decreasing.
Species and subspecies
The family contains just four species:
Family Protopteridae
- Protopterus aethiopicus (Heckel, 1851) - Marbled lungfish
- Protopterus aethiopicus aethiopicus
- Protopterus aethiopicus congicus
- Protopterus aethiopicus mesmaekersi
- Protopterus amphibius (Peters, 1844) - East African lungfish
- Protopterus annectens (Owen, 1839) - African lungfish
- Protopterus annectens annectens
- Protopterus annectens brieni
- Protopterus dolloi (Boulenger, 1900) - Slender lungfish
References
- ^ Bruton, Michael N. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link) - ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Lepidosirenidae". FishBase. January 2009 version.
- Kees (P. C.) Goudswaard, Frans Witte, Lauren J. Chapman, Decline of the African lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) in Lake Victoria (East Africa) East African Wild Life Society, African Journal of Ecology, 40, 42-52, 2002
- Purves, Sadava, Orians, Heller, "Life: THe Science of Biology" 7th ed. pg. 943. Courier Companies Inc: USA, 2004.