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South American Lungfish

Fish

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
Diet
Omnivore 1
System (Realm)
Freshwater 1
Relationship to People
Hunted or Fished 2
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Scientific Name
Lepidosiren paradoxa 3
Conservation Status
Least Concern 1
Comparison
CITES Appendix
Not Listed 4
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Sarcopterygii, Taxa
Source South American Lungfish (Wikidata)

In Biome

River, Biomes
Source Wikipedia: South American lungfish
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Argentina

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Bolivia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Brazil

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Colombia

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Paraguay

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Peru

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

South America

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Venezuela

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

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.
  • Infobox: 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 Source
2. FishBase: Lepidosiren paradoxa (FishBase)
FishBaseHuman uses
Quote, Human uses
Fisheries: subsistence fisheries
View the Source
3. 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
View the Source
4. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Lepidosiren paradoxa (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyConservation Status: CITES
Quote, Conservation Status: CITES
CITES No special status
View the Source
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