02. Living fossils (23)

  • Polypterus ansorgii

    25. May 2020

    Polypterus ansorgii is perhaps the rarest of the bichirs and also comes from regions in Africa from which ornamental fish exports are rarely possible for political reasons. We have already occasionally reported on this interesting, large-growing species (https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/polypterus-ansorgii/ and https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/polypterus_ansorgii_xxl_en/) and a detailed report on P. ansorgii can be found here: https://www.aqualog.de/blog/ansorges-floesselhecht-ein-mythos-wird-entschleiert/ (sadly in German […]

  • Polypterus endlicherii bred (2)

    30. July 2019

    For some time now we have been able to offer offspring of this big bichir (see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/fischarchiv/polypterus_endlicherii_nachzuchten_en/). With the current delivery we noticed the bizarre outer gills, which have young animals of all Polypterus species. They give these primeval fishes a very peculiar appearance. For our customers: the animals have code 163312 on our stocklist. […]

  • Lepisosteus oculatus

    16. July 2018

    The Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) is a living fossil. Gars live on earth since about 145 million years. Nowadays 7 species still exist, all native to North- and Central America. Gars are predators. They can survive in oxygen-poor waters due a primitive lung that enables them to breath air additionally to the gill breathing. So […]

  • Polypterus lapradei

    2. February 2018

    Napoleon Bonaparte was leader of a campaign through Egypt in the years 1798-1801. He was followed by 169 scientists, among them the zoologist Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. After the return to France, Saint-Hilaire described a very strange species of fish he collected in the Nile river in Egypt under the (vernacular) name of Polyptère bichir. The […]

  • Polypterus teugelsi Bred

    17. January 2018

    The Cross river in Western Africa is a legendary river. The course of the river starts in Cameroon, the lower part flows through Nigeria. The river is famous for its high degree of endemic species; „endemic“ means that the species occurs only there and nowhere else. Among the endemic species are for example Tetraodon pustulatus […]

  • Polypterus palmas

    31. July 2017

    We received once more from Guinea the comparatively small (20-25 cm) and very pretty Polypterus palmas. Currently our fish are 10-12 cm long. Formerly the species has been splitted in several subspecies, but this seems not to reflect the real situation. Two of these subspecies have been recorded from Guinea, namely P. p. palmas and […]

  • Atractosteus spatula

    24. July 2017

    The Alligator gars are so-called living fossils. They developed about 100 million years ago in the upper Cretaceous and haven´t changed much since then. Currently two genera live in the New World, namely Atractosteus (containing three species) and Lepisosteus (four species). The members of Atractosteus can reach about 2 m in length (formerly they are […]

  • Phractolaemus ansorgii

    10. April 2017

    Finally we were able to import again Phractolaemus ansorgii. The last importation was years ago. Sadly the fish are sold out already, but we nevertheless want to show you the interesting animals. Formerly we obtained these fish from Nigeria, this time they originate from the Congo. In our current import obviously two colour morphs appear, […]

  • Polypterus endlicherii bred

    23. March 2016

    This large species – sexual maturity is reached at about 40 cm length, but the species can grow as big as 70 cm – originates from Africa. Her it has a fairly wide distribution, from the Nile to the Niger. But it is difficult to catch, so the fish were rather high in prize. Now […]

  • Amia calva

    21. March 2016

    Four specimens – gorgeous animals, which are 15 – 20 cm long – of this “living fossil” reached us recently. Once there was a time when relatives of this species lived allmost all over the World, even in Europe several species existed. These creatures were already existent when the dinosaurs walked around. However, nowadays only […]