West African lungfish

West African lungfish
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Sarcopterygii
Subclass: Dipnoi
Order: Lepidosireniformes
Family: Protopteridae
Genus: Protopterus
Species: P. annectens
Binomial name
Protopterus annectens
(Owen, 1839)[2]
Subspecies
  • P. a. annectens (Owen, 1839)
  • P. a. brieni Poll, 1961

The West African lungfish (Protopterus annectens), also known as the Tana lungfish, is a species of African lungfish.[1][3] It is found in a wide range of freshwater habitats in West and Middle Africa, as well as the northern half of Southern Africa.[1][3]

Description

P. annectens has a prominent snout and small eyes. Its body is long and eel-like, some 9–15 times the length of the head. It has two pairs of long, filamentous fins. The pectoral fins have a basal fringe and are about three times the head length, while its pelvic fins are about twice the head length. In general, three external gills are inserted posterior to the gill slits and above the pectoral fins.

It has cycloid scales embedded in the skin. About 40–50 scales occur between the operculum and the anus, and 36–40 around the body before the origin of the dorsal fin. It has 34–37 pairs of ribs. The dorsal side is olive or brown in color and the ventral side is lighter, with great blackish or brownish spots on the body and fins except on its belly.[4] They reach a length of about 1 m (3.3 ft) in the wild .[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Snoeks, J., Laleye, P. & Contreras-MacBeath, T. (2007). Protopterus annectens. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 16 July 2010. P. annectens has been assessed as Least Concern because it has a very large range, and there are no known widespread threats to the species.
  2. ↑ ITIS.gov (Retrieved May 13, 2010.)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2014). "Protopterus annectens" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
  4. ↑ EOL.org
  5. ↑ Primitivefishes.com (Retrieved May 13, 2010.)

External links