Details
Polypterus ornatipinnis
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.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits rivers, lakes, and wetlands of the Afrotropics. Bottom areas with plants, wood, rocks, and cover are favored.
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.
Nocturnal and solitary, it supplements gill breathing by gulping air. It often creeps along the substrate using the pectoral fins.
A carnivore, it eats small fishes, crustaceans, and insect larvae. Smell helps it locate food in darkness.
Spawning occurs in vegetated shallows during rainy periods. Eggs settle among plants, and larvae develop with external gills.
It is listed as Least Concern, though local populations can still be affected by habitat change, collection, or pollution.
