West African Lungfish, that Lives on Land
The lungfish is the kind of that vertebrate that can be found in freshwater. One of the best
lungfish is Dipnoj and it is famous for retaining ancestral characteristics in the Osteichthyes, it
can live on the land, it can live without water for a long time and mostly she can live without
water even years. This name is suggested due to its ability to take oxygen directly from the air
because it has a huge respiratory system. It is just like a land animal because, in most species of
fish, it can’t stay on land, and also not possible to live without water. Most of them in such
species do not use their gills, as we know that if we do not use a part of our body, it can be
useless. In the same case, these species of lungfish always take a breath in the air and they lost
the function of their gills when these fishes become adults. These fish are very used to the land, it
is also possible for them to drown if they stayed underwater for a long time. It has well
developed internal skeleton because there are lobed fins present in its body. This fish is the
closest relative of the tetrapod. Nowadays there are six species available that are living on
different continents such as South America, Africa, and Australia. The record of fossils shows
that there was a huge quantity of lungfish species since the Triassic. On the other hand, the
suggestion of the vicariance represents an old distribution that was limited to the
Mesozoic supercontinent Gondwana, the record of fossil suggest that there was a widespread
distribution of the freshwater, and its current distribution which is modern lungfish species
shows the image of extinction of many lineages after the breakup of Pangaea, Laurasia, and
Gondwana. The history of lungfish is referred to as salamanderfish, but most of the time this
term relates to Lepidogalaxias.
The lungfish have long bodies same as eels, and there is a thread just like pectoral and pelvic
fins, that they use to crawl and swim along the bottom. They inhabit fewer deep waters, such as
marshes and swamps, but they are mostly found in bigger lakes.
The behavior of the lungfish is just like the other fish when they are in the water, they usually eat
small fish and swim in the water and crust ocean on the bottoms of streams and pounds. But on
the other hand, when the dry season starts, the lungfish likes to stay in the mud, by using their
mouth, they dig out the path and drag it out its gills. When a fish touched a comfortable depth,
the process of digging stops, and the mucous of its skin makes it hard to form a protective
cocoon around it. They get used to taking out their mouth from the mud for breathing. For a long
time, they are stuck there, due to this process the metabolism of the lungfish will reduce and
bound up the muscle tissues in its tail. But when the water returns and the mud becomes
softened, the lungfish will bail out of its borrow. Some researchers claim that this fish can live
under the dried mud for nearly four years.
West African Lungfish, that Lives on Land
Lungfish are mostly found in South America, Africa, and Australia. In Africa, this is very
common to eat this fish locals, people usually dig it out from the dry mud. The fish is considered
that it has an amazing taste and is not enjoyed by all.
West African Lungfish, that Lives on Land
West African Lungfish, that Lives on Land
A speckle-bellied lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus), in Toba Aquarium, Mie-ken, Japan. Photo credit: Joel Abroad/Flickr
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