Species
Polypterus Senegalus
Fish
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The Senegal bichir is an African species of ray-finned fish in the bichir family Polypteridae, reaching about 35.5 centimeters in length. It has a primitive, ancient appearance with armor-like rhomboid scales and can breathe atmospheric oxygen using a pair of primitive lungs, letting it survive out of water and even move across land using its large pectoral fins. It lives in lakes, river margins, swamps and floodplains across tropical Africa, including the Nile system and West African river basins in at least 26 countries. Despite nicknames such as dinosaur eel or dragon fish, it is neither an eel nor a reptile, and it is popular in the aquarium trade.
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