Spotted lungfish
The spotted lungfish or slender lungfish (Protopterus dolloi) is a species of lungfish from Middle Africa, where found in the Congo, Kouilou-Niari and Ogowe river basins.[1][3] It is one of four extant species in the genus Protopterus.
| Spotted lungfish | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
| Class: | Dipnoi |
| Order: | Ceratodontiformes |
| Family: | Protopteridae |
| Genus: | Protopterus |
| Species: | P. dolloi |
| Binomial name | |
| Protopterus dolloi | |
Habitat
The slender lungfish is a freshwater fish and it largely inhabits the middle and lower Congo River basin.[3] It is a primarily demersal fish, dwelling in the riverbeds of the above basins and in Stanley Pool.[3][1] During spawning season, females can be found in open water.[3][1]
Biology
The slender lungfish has an anguilliform body, much like an eel.[3] The body of the slender lungfish is generally brown; young of the species oftentimes have black spots throughout the body, however adults generally lose these spots as they age.[3] Like all African lungfish the slender lungfish is an obligate air-breather and is capable of aestivation; however, it generally does not aestivate.[3] When it does aestivate, the lungfish creates a dry mucus cocoon on land.[4] As most tropical fish are ammoniotelic, being on land can induce ammonia toxicity – with negative organismal and cellular level consequences – due to a lack of water to flush excreted ammonia from the gills and other cutaneous surfaces.[4] Studies have shown that the slender lungfish has evolved the ability to reduce endogenous ammonia production, as well as an ornithine-urea cycle to increase the conversion rate of ammonia to less toxic urea, to defend against this toxicity.[4][5]
Reproduction
Spotted lungfish nests are generally found in June through October.[1] During this time period the male makes a nest and buries it in mud, not unlike the marbled lungfish mating behavior.[1] He guards both eggs and larvae during this time.[3][1] The female does not take care of the young but rather during this time can be found open water in rivers within its range.[3]
References
- Moelants, T. (2010). "Protopterus dolloi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T183033A8036086. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-3.RLTS.T183033A8036086.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ITIS.gov
- Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Protopterus dolloi" in FishBase. April 2014 version.
- Ip, Y. K.; Chew, S. F.; Randall, D. J. (2004). "Five Tropical Air‐Breathing Fishes, Six Different Strategies to Defend against Ammonia Toxicity on Land". Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 77 (5): 768–782. doi:10.1086/422057. ISSN 1522-2152. JSTOR 10.1086/422057. PMID 15547795. S2CID 20545085.
- Wood, Chris M.; Walsh, Patrick J.; Chew, Shit F.; Ip, Yuen K. (2005). "Greatly Elevated Urea Excretion after Air Exposure Appears to Be Carrier Mediated in the Slender Lungfish (Protopterus dolloi)". Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. 78 (6): 893–907. doi:10.1086/432919. ISSN 1522-2152. JSTOR 10.1086/432919. PMID 16228929. S2CID 35160817.
Further reading
- http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/207/5/777
- Fishman, A. P., Pack, A. I., Delaney, R. G. and Gallante, R. J. (1987). Estivation in Protopterus. In The Biology and Evolution of Lungfishes(ed.) W. E. Bemis, W. W. Burggren and N. E. Kemp), pp. 163–179. New York: Alan R. Liss, Inc.
