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Reedfish
The reedfish, ropefish (more commonly used in the United States), or snakefish, ''Erpetoichthys calabaricus'', is a species of fish in the bichir family and order. It is the only member of the genus ''Erpetoichthys''. It is native to fresh and brackish waters in West and Central Africa. The reedfish possesses a pair of lungs in addition to gills, allowing it to survive in very oxygen-poor water. It is threatened by habitat loss through palm oil plantations, other agriculture, deforestation, and urban development. Description The largest confirmed reedfish museum specimen was long, and two studies where more than 1,600 wild reedfish were caught (using basket traps, meaning that only individuals longer than were retained) found none that exceeded . Although sometimes claimed to reach up to long, this is incorrect. The reedfish has an eel-like, elongated body without a trace of a ventral fin. The long dorsal fin consist of a series of well-separated spines, each supporting on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bichir
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, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Alexander Smith (zoologist)
John Alexander Smith (June 1818–17 August 1883) was a Scottish physician, antiquarian, archaeologist and ornithologist. Life He was born at 13 Hope Street, off Charlotte Square, in June 1818, the son of James Smith (architect), the last Master Mason of Scotland. He was educated at the High School in Edinburgh then studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh receiving his doctorate (MD) in 1840. He set up practice as a GP in Edinburgh's West End at 7 West Maitland Street. In 1863 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ... his proposer being John Hutton Balfour. From 1870 to 1873 he was Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 1874 he succeeded the late Dr Somerville as Treasurer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lung
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory system is to extract oxygen from the air and transfer it into the bloodstream, and to release carbon dioxide from the bloodstream into the atmosphere, in a process of gas exchange. Respiration is driven by different muscular systems in different species. Mammals, reptiles and birds use their different muscles to support and foster breathing. In earlier tetrapods, air was driven into the lungs by the pharyngeal muscles via buccal pumping, a mechanism still seen in amphibians. In humans, the main muscle of respiration that drives breathing is the diaphragm. The lungs also provide airflow that makes vocal sounds including human speech possible. Humans have two lungs, one on the left ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiloango River
The Chiloango River ( pt, Rio Chiluango, also known as Kakongo River, Louango, Shiloango and Rio Hi) is a river in western Central Africa. It forms the westernmost part of the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo, and then forms approximately half of the border between the DRC and Cabinda, Angola passing just south of the town of Necuto. The river then bisects Cabinda, making it the most important river in the province. It enters the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ... just north of the town of Cacongo.United States. Hydrographic Office (1916) ''Africa Pilot: The southewest coast of Africa from Cape Palmas to the Cape of Good Hope, including the islands of St. Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, and neighboring ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanaga River
The Sanaga River (formerly german: Zannaga) is the largest river in Cameroon located in East Region, Centre Region and Littoral Region. Its length is about from the confluence of Djérem and Lom River. The total length of Sanaga-Djérem River system is about . Djerem is the longest source of Sanaga River with a total length of 464.5 km. Course The Sanaga River has its Source at the Adamawa Plateau. It is formed by the confluence of the Djérem River and Lom River in the north of the East Region. Djérem River has a total length of and Lom River has a total length of . Apart from those originating rivers, the largest tributary of Sanaga is Mbam River with a total length of . Climate The Sanaga River forms a boundary between two tropical moist forest ecoregions. The Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests lie to the north between the Sanaga River and the Cross River of Nigeria, and the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests extend south of the river through southwes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ouémé River The Ouémé River, also known as the Weme River, is a river in Benin. It rises in the Atakora Mountains, and is about long. It flows past the towns of Carnotville and Ouémé to a large delta on the Gulf of Guinea near the seaport city of Cotonou. The largest tributaries are the Okpara River and the Alpouro River. Description Ouémé River is the largest river of the Benin Republic. It is located between 6° 30° and 10° north latitude and 0° 52 'and 3° 05' east longitude(Oba S. Alain 2018). It crosses several agro-ecological zones and feeds downstream, the lagoon system ‘'Lake Nokoué-lagoon of Porto-Novo'’ through a Delta zone. The lower Delta of Ouémé, is located between latitude 6° 33'N and 8° 15 'and the meridians 1° 50' and 2° 00 ' (Zinsou et al., 2016). The lower |
