The South American lungfish is an eel-bodied, thread-finned fish of the Amazon, Paraguay, and lower Parana river basins, reaching up to about 1.25 meters long. Juveniles are strikingly spotted gold on black, a pattern that fades to plain brown or gray as they mature. Its gills are reduced to the point of being effectively nonfunctional in adults, making it an obligate air-breather dependent on a pair of lungs. When its swamp habitat dries up, it burrows into the mud, seals a chamber with mucus, and slows its metabolism to wait out the dry season in dormancy.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Scientific Name Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source South American Lungfish (Wikidata)
In Biome
River, Biomes Source Wikipedia: South American lungfish
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Argentina, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Bolivia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Brazil, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Colombia, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Paraguay, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Peru, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: South America, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Venezuela, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: South American lungfish
system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly)
The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa), also known as the American mud-fish and scaly salamanderfish, is the single species of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon, Paraguay, and lower Paraná River basins in South America.
article text (diet), EntityId 332429
Juvenile lungfish feed on insect larvae and snails, while adults are omnivorous, adding algae and shrimp to their diets, crushing them with their heavily mineralized tooth-plates.
Speciesbox infobox, conservation status parameter
status = LC
- In Biome: River, Wikipedia intro: "pecies of lungfish found in swamps and slow-moving waters of the Amazon, Paraguay, and lower Paran? River basins in South America. Notable as an obligate air-br..."
View the Source2. South American Lungfish (Wikidata)
Wikidata- Wikidata Q1410142 (P225 taxon name)
Statements section, conservation status (P141)
IUCN Red List conservation status (Wikidata property P141): least concern.
- Child Taxon Of: Sarcopterygii, Wikidata parent-taxon (P171) chain
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