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389 Featured Specimen
Ornate bichir

Details

Ornate bichir

Polypterus ornatipinnis

Size
30–60 cm · 300–900 g
Diet
Carnivore
Activity
Nocturnal
Sociality
Solitary
Lifespan
15–20 years

The ornate bichir is an African ancient fish with armorlike scales and a row of small dorsal finlets. At night it moves over the freshwater bottom almost as if walking.

Range

Habitat range map
Native range Occasional / Transient
AfrotropicalAfrotropicalAfrotropicalAfrotropical

Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)

Details

Habitat

It inhabits rivers, lakes, and wetlands of the Afrotropics. Bottom areas with plants, wood, rocks, and cover are favored.

Appearance

Length 30-60 cm; weight 300 g-900 g. A green-brown to dark body carries yellow netlike markings, and small finlets line the back. The pectoral fins can brace the fish against the bottom.

Behavior

Nocturnal and solitary, it supplements gill breathing by gulping air. It often creeps along the substrate using the pectoral fins.

Feeding

A carnivore, it eats small fishes, crustaceans, and insect larvae. Smell helps it locate food in darkness.

Reproduction

Spawning occurs in vegetated shallows during rainy periods. Eggs settle among plants, and larvae develop with external gills.

Notes

It is listed as Least Concern, though local populations can still be affected by habitat change, collection, or pollution.