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Polypterus Polli
''Polypterus polli'', Poll's bichir, is a species of bichir from the Malebo Pool and the lower and central basins of the Congo River. It was named in honor of Belgian ichthyologist Max Poll. Description ''P. polli'' is an “upper-jaw” bichir, meaning its maxilla protrudes further out than its mandible. It has a maximum recorded length of 12.6 inches (32.1 cm). It can be distinguished from other bichirs by its dull gold body color, greenish-yellow fins, and reticulated body pattern with light-colored “polka-dots” toward the base of the tail. It is oftentimes mistaken for ''P. palmas'' in the aquarium trade because they were once considered conspecific and have a similar color pattern, but ''P. polli'' lacks the dark transverse barring and speckled look characteristic of both ''P. palmas'' morphs. It can also be distinguished by its count of 5-7 dorsal finlets. Bichirs are stabilomorphic fishes that diverged from other ray-finned fishes possibly as early as the Devonian perio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The IUCN Red List Of Threatened Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. It uses a set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of thousands of species and subspecies. These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions of the world. With its strong scientific base, the IUCN Red List is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity. A series of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries or organizations, which assess the risk of extinction to species within a political management unit. The aim of the IUCN Red List is to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public and policy makers, as well as help the international community to reduce species extinction. According to IUCN the formally stated goals of the Red List are to provide sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamander
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating lost lim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypteridae
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Publishing. 720 p. All the species occur in freshwater habitats in tropical Africa and the Nile River system, mainly swampy, shallow floodplains and estuaries. Cladistia, polypterids and their fossil relatives, are considered the sister group to all other extant ray-finned fishes (Actinopteri).Dai Suzuki, Matthew C. Brandley, Masayoshi Tokita: ''CORRECTION: The mitochondrial phylogeny of an ancient lineage of ray-finned fishes (Polypteridae) with implications for the evolution of body elongation, pelvic fin loss, and craniofacial morphology in Osteichthyes.'' BMC Evolutionary Biology. Bd. 10, Art.-Nr. 209, 2010, They likely diverged from Actinopteri at least 330 million years ago. A closely related group, the Scanilepiformes, are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Mokelembembe
''Polypterus mokelembembe'' is a species of the fish genus ''Polypterus'', found in the central basin of the Congo River. It was once considered a morph of the closely related '' Polypterus retropinnis'', but was given species status in 2006 with a description that reclassified both fishes. Because of the recency of the species' description and the fact that ''P. mokelembembe'' is the paralectotype of ''P. retropinnis'', they are often mistaken for one another in the aquarium trade. Etymology The species was named after the Mokèlé-mbèmbé, a mythological creature believed by some to be a sauropod dinosaur that survived the extinction of dinosaurs in the central Congo Basin. This is in reference to the fact that Polypteriformes are stabilomorphic organisms, or "living fossils," and existed at the same time as non-avian dinosaurs, and the fact that ''P. mokelembembe'' is itself endemic to the Congo Basin. Description ''P. mokelembembe'' is the smallest extant Polypterid, reachin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Palmas
''Polypterus palmas'', also called the shortfin or marbled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in freshwater environments throughout West Africa. Distribution ''P. palmas'' has a wide range; it can be found in freshwater environments at a demersal depth range in Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. It was listed as "least concern" within this range by the IUCN in 2021. Description The maximum recorded length of ''P. palmas'' is 35.3 cm (13.9) inches, although lengths of around 30 cm (11.8 inches) are much more common. It can be distinguished from other similarly-sized bichirs such as '' Polypterus senegalus'' and ''Polypterus polli'' by its bright gold coloration, speckled pattern, and dark transverse barring. Two color morphs of this species exist—''P. palmas'' "palmas" is found in more Southern locales and has a more pale yellow body with thinner dark barring, while ''P. palmas'' "buettikoferi" i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Retropinnis
The West African bichir or retropinnis bichir (''Polypterus retropinnis''), is a freshwater fish in the family Polypteridae, is found in the central Congo River basin and Ogooué River in Africa. It is a long, slender fish that grows to a maximum length of about . Description Bichirs are primitive fish which have a jaw structure that resembles that of tetrapods rather than bony fishes; they also have rudimentary lungs and two slit-like spiracles used for exhalation, and can breathe air when there is insufficient oxygen in the water. The West African bichir has an elongated cylindrical body with a maximum length of . It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by having jaws that are about the same length, and in living specimens, having creamy-white irises speckled with black. The dorsal fin consists of 7 to 9 separate finlets each topped with a sharp spine. The pectoral fin is fleshy and has 30 to 32 soft rays and the anal fin has 12 to 15 spines. The dorsal surfac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Senegalus
''Polypterus senegalus'', the Senegal bichir, gray bichir or Cuvier's bichir, and sometimes called the "dinosaur eel" (a misnomer, as the creature is neither an eel nor a dinosaur), "dinosaur bichir", or "dragon fish" is in the pet trade due to its lungfish-like appearance, which was described as more primitive and prehistoric than other modern fishes. It is a prototypical species of fish in the genus ''Polypterus'', meaning most of its features are held across the genus. It is commonly kept in captivity by hobbyists. They are native from Africa where they are the most widespread species of the genus. Appearance ''Polypterus senegalus'' is an elongated fish, usually grey or beige in color, though it sometimes has shades of white, pink or blue on some of its rhomboid-shaped, multilayer scales. Most of the fish is covered in very subtle patterns with occasional darker blotches or dots. At the nose, the face is smooth and rounded, with larger scales than the rest of the fish. Exte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Retropinnis
The West African bichir or retropinnis bichir (''Polypterus retropinnis''), is a freshwater fish in the family Polypteridae, is found in the central Congo River basin and Ogooué River in Africa. It is a long, slender fish that grows to a maximum length of about . Description Bichirs are primitive fish which have a jaw structure that resembles that of tetrapods rather than bony fishes; they also have rudimentary lungs and two slit-like spiracles used for exhalation, and can breathe air when there is insufficient oxygen in the water. The West African bichir has an elongated cylindrical body with a maximum length of . It can be distinguished from other members of the genus by having jaws that are about the same length, and in living specimens, having creamy-white irises speckled with black. The dorsal fin consists of 7 to 9 separate finlets each topped with a sharp spine. The pectoral fin is fleshy and has 30 to 32 soft rays and the anal fin has 12 to 15 spines. The dorsa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polypterus Palmas
''Polypterus palmas'', also called the shortfin or marbled bichir, is a fish in the family Polypteridae found in freshwater environments throughout West Africa. Distribution ''P. palmas'' has a wide range; it can be found in freshwater environments at a demersal depth range in Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Liberia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. It was listed as "least concern" within this range by the IUCN in 2021. Description The maximum recorded length of ''P. palmas'' is 35.3 cm (13.9) inches, although lengths of around 30 cm (11.8 inches) are much more common. It can be distinguished from other similarly-sized bichirs such as ''Polypterus senegalus'' and '' Polypterus polli'' by its bright gold coloration, speckled pattern, and dark transverse barring. Two color morphs of this species exist—''P. palmas'' "palmas" is found in more Southern locales and has a more pale yellow body with thinner dark barring, while ''P. palmas'' "buettikoferi" is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the order Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed internal skeleton. Lungfish represent the closest living relatives of the tetrapods. Today there are only six known species of lungfish, living in Africa, South America, and Australia. The fossil record shows that lungfish were abundant since the Triassic. While vicariance would suggest this represents an ancient distribution limited to the Mesozoic supercontinent Gondwana, the fossil record suggests advanced lungfish had a widespread freshwater distribution and the current distribution of modern lungfish species reflects extinction of many lineages subsequent to the breakup of Pangaea, Gondwana and Laurasia. Lungfish have historically been referred to as salamanderfish, but this t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
