A Desert Fish Called Lungfish

Australian Lungfish

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I want to introduce to you Lungfish. This is a very unique animal. What does your mind think when you read "a desert fish" ? Maybe you'll say impossible, crazy, amazing, could it be real or too good to be true. Because desert is always dry, hot, no water, no rain, no plant, that's what we always consider about desert. Hardly unbelievable there is a kind of fish which can survive without water. Lungfish does it !!! The South American lungfish digs a hole in the bottom mud and they make a nest in which they stay until water levels raises again. The African lungfish has taken this a step further and covers their body with a secretion. The secretion dries to a leathery cocoon that helps them to keep alive until the water returns. They can survive without water up two years.

South American Lungfish

We can find Lungfish in Australia, South America and Africa. They have developed lungs which allow them to breathe air in water with low oxygen levels. We can trace back Lungfish to the Lower Devonian area and they haven't changed much in the million of years. There are two families of lungfish, they are Lepidosirenidae (South American lungfish and African lungfish) and Ceratodidae (Australian lungfish). They have long snakelike bodies. They grow large and the African lungfish can become over 6 feet / 2 m long.

African Lungfish

 

The number of lungfish will become many, along the increase of the rain. This will last until the dry season comes when no more rain in the desert. Dry season makes the land, the rivers, the lakes and the marsh of Africa  dry again. At that time, lungfish will hide in the hole of land and keep digging until it find a moist place containing water. Lungfish will keep hiding in the ground along the dry season. Lungfish will comes out when the rainy season comes and the rivers exist.

Unique animal - Lungfish

Lungfish is a predator animal. They will eat anything that fits into their mouth. Their food usually consists of fish, crayfish, crabs and anything else meaty they might find. Lungfish adaptes most water conditions and they can survive in waters that other fishe couldn't survive in due to their ability to breathe air.  All lungfish have two lungs, with the exception of the Australian lungfish, which only has one.