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For the musical band, see Lungfish (band).
Lungfishes are sarcopterygian fish that can breathe air (and in some species are obligate air-breathers), and have limb-like appendages instead of fins. There are six living species known; four in Africa, and one each in South America and Australia.
They all have an elongate body, four limbs, and a single rear fin.
Taxonomy
Taxonomy of lungfishes presents some difficulty because of their resemblances to both fish and land-dwelling vertebrates, and have been classified in a variety of ways, ranging from class Dipnoi, to infraclass Dipnomorpha, to order Dipteriformes. However, there is general agreement that there are two main subcategories, here given as orders:
- Ceratodontiformes: characterized by having broad flipper-like fins and an unpaired lung.
- Lepidosireniformes: characterized by having thread-like fins and paired lungs.
- Family Lepidosirenidae
- Genus Lepidosiren
- Lepidosiren paradoxa - South American LungfishSouth American Lungfish Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sarcopterygii Order: Lepidosireniformes Family Lepidosirenidae Genus Lepidosiren Species paradoxa Binomial name Lepidosiren paradoxa The South American Lungfish Le
- Family Protopteridae
- Genus ProtopterusProtopterus aethiopicus Protopterus amphibius Protopterus annectens Protopterus dolloi The African lungfish are the genus Protopterus and constitute the four species of lungfish found in Africa. Protopterus is the sole genus in the family Protopteridae .
Chordates
Lungfish
