Lungfish · Lepidosireniformes · Protopteridae

African Lungfish

Protopterus annectens

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The African lungfish, West African lungfish or Tana lungfish is a lungfish found in Africa, from the Senegal river to the Congo, Zambezi and Okavango rivers.

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

FreshwaterCarnivore Solitary Fish Freshwater

10countries 5parks

Fun facts

GeneralIt survives drought wrapped in a cocoon of mucus under the mud, for as long as four years.
fisiologíaIt can survive several years buried in dry mud inside a cocoon of mucus, in a dormant state called aestivation.
It is an obligate air breather: it has two lungs and drowns if it cannot come up for air.
When the water dries up it burrows into the mud and secretes mucus that within six or eight days becomes a dry, papery cocoon, with a single opening for the mouth connected to the surface by a narrow tube.
Inside that cocoon it can spend years dormant without eating or drinking. In the wild it aestivates for seven or eight months, and one captive individual emerged from its cocoon after seven years.
It switches metabolism when it aestivates: in water it excretes ammonia, and inside the cocoon it converts this into urea, far less toxic, so as not to poison itself.
A 2024 study confirmed that the inner and outer layers of the cocoon are made up largely of living cells.