Polypteridae

Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .

The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, Erpetoichthys calabaricus, is a species of fish in the family Polypteridae alongside the bichirs. It is the only member of the genus Erpetoichthys. It is native to fresh and brackish waters in West and Central Africa. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs in addition to gills, allowing it to survive in very oxygen-poor water. It is threatened by habitat loss through palm oil plantations, other agriculture, deforestation, and urban development.

Polypterus is a genus of freshwater fish in the bichir family (Polypteridae) of order Polypteriformes. The type species is the Nile bichir (P. bichir). Fish in this genus live in various areas in Africa. Polypterus is the only known vertebrate to have lungs, but no trachea.

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

species of fish

Bawitius is an extinct genus of giant polypterid from the Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) Bahariya Formation of Egypt. The type species is B. bartheli, named as a species of Polypterus in 1984, and the genus etymology comes from Bawiti, the principal settlement of the Bahariya Oasis in Egypt. It is known from the holotype TU-B SFB 69 Vb 003 (= Bah 5/12-016): left ectopterygoid scales and some sparse scales.

species of fish