Lungfish
|
|
For the musical band, see Lungfish (band).
| Lungfishes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Queensland Lungfish | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Orders | ||||||||||
|
see text |
Lungfishes are sarcopterygian fish that can breathe air (and in some species are obligate air-breathers), and have limb-like appendages instead of fins. There are six living species known; four in Africa, and one each in South America and Australia.
They all have an elongate body, four limbs, and a single rear fin.
Taxonomy
Taxonomy of lungfishes presents some difficulty because of their resemblances to both fish and land-dwelling vertebrates, and have been classified in a variety of ways, ranging from class Dipnoi, to infraclass Dipnomorpha, to order Dipteriformes. However, there is general agreement that there are two main subcategories, here given as orders:
- Ceratodontiformes: characterized by having broad flipper-like fins and an unpaired lung.
- Family Ceratodontidae,
- Genus Neoceratodus
- Neoceratodus forsteri - Queensland Lungfish
- Genus Neoceratodus
- Family Ceratodontidae,
- Lepidosireniformes: characterized by having thread-like fins and paired lungs.
- Family Lepidosirenidae
- Genus Lepidosiren
- Lepidosiren paradoxa - South American Lungfish
- Genus Lepidosiren
- Family Protopteridae
- Genus Protopterus
- Protopterus aethiopicus - Marbled Lungfish
- Protopterus amphibius - East African Lungfish
- Protopterus annectens - African Lungfish
- Protopterus dolloi - Slender Lungfish
- Genus Protopterus
- Family Lepidosirenidae