Lepidosireniformes

Lepidosireniformes
Protopterus aethiopicus , clearly visible the thread-like reduced fins.
Systematics
Trunk : Chordates (chordata) Sub-stem : Vertebrates (vertebrata) Superclass : Jaw mouths (Gnathostomata) Class : Meat finisher (Sarcopterygii) Subclass : Lungfish (Dipnoi) Order : Lepidosireniformes
Scientific name
Lepidosireniformes
Müller , 1844

The Lepidosireniformes ( Gr .: "Lepis", - "idos" = scale; "seiren" = siren + Latin : "forma" = shape) are an order of the lung fish (Dipnoi), which with four recent species in tropical Africa and a species occurs in tropical South America. In addition to these five species, there is only one other recent species, the Australian lungfish ( Neoceratodus forsteri ), which, however, belongs to a different order.

features

The lungfish of the order Lepidosireniformes have an eel-like, elongated body and reach body lengths of 45 cm to two meters. In contrast to the large scaled Australian lungfish, which has only one lung, the Lepidosireniformes species only have small scales and have paired lungs. The scales lie deep under the glandular epidermis, so that the fish appear rather naked. The most striking characteristic of the order are the thread-like reduced paired fins that have no fin rays . The larvae have outer gill tufts , similar to the larvae of the tail amphibian . Fully grown Lepidosireniformes can survive dry seasons buried in the ground. The fish spawn in holes and tunnels that they dig in embankments or in the bottom of the water. The spawn is guarded by the males.

Internal system

• Family Lepidosirenidae
  • Genus Lepidosiren
    • South American lungfish ( Lepidosiren paradoxa )
• Family Protopteridae
  • Genus Protopterus
    • Ethiopian lungfish ( Protopterus aethiopicus ) ( Heckel , 1851)
    • East African lungfish ( Protopterus amphibius ) (Peters, 1844)
    • West African lungfish ( Protopterus annectens ) (Owen, 1839)
    • Congo lungfish ( Protopterus dolloi ) (Boulenger, 1900)

Tribal history

A fossil form of the Lepidosireniformes is Gnathorhiza , which occurred from the Westphalian (316.5 to about 305 million years ago) to the Olenekian (249.5 to 245.9 million years ago).

literature

• Joseph S. Nelson : Fishes of the World , John Wiley & Sons, 2006, ISBN 0-471-25031-7 .
• Günther Sterba : The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .

Web links

Commons : Lepidosireniformes  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Lepidosireniformes on Fishbase.org (English)

1. ↑ The Paleobiology Database: Gnathorhiza