1. Welcome to Aquarium Space! We are a friendly online community for aquarium owners all over the world who love their tanks including their fish, reefs, corals, invertebrates and their aquatic livestock. If you haven't joined yet, we invite you to register and join our community!

Bichirs- Polypteridae

Discussion in 'Fish Profiles' started by MOD_Dawn, Jun 22, 2009.

  1. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Thread Starter Active Member

    Messages:
    5,172
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    38

    BICHIRS

    General:
    The approximately 12 species live in small large bodies of water in Africa.

    Biology:
    Bichirs provide no parental care. The young, like newts, possess external gills protruding from the back of the skull, which later disappear.

    Specifics:
    Bichirs can survive in oxygen-poor and hot swamps because they can breathe atmospheric air when the water no longer contains sufficient oxygen.
    This ability may be the principal reason for their survival as "living fossils" since the age of the saurians in Africa.
    Polypteridae-.jpg Polypteridae.jpg
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 22, 2009
    #1