📸 PhotoPhoto: 5snake5 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Gray bichir
Polypterus senegalus (Gray bichir · ポリプテルス・セネガルス)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 With a record of living over 34 years in an aquarium (captivity), it can be a very long-lived companion fish.
- 💡 A body length of 70 cm is slightly longer than two 30 cm rulers laid end to end (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The gray bichir is an ancient lineage of freshwater fish living in Africa that also breathes air.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
The body is slender and elongated, and the dorsal fin consists of 8–11 finlets. It breathes air when necessary, and juveniles possess external gills.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It feeds on insects, crustaceans, clams, frogs, and fish, rising near the surface along vegetated margins during hot days to breathe air. It moves with a snake-like gliding motion.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2020) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/182615/58331540
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 77V2Q
- • iucnredlist.org — 58331540
- • wikidata.org — Q1515914
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Polypterus senegalus - Senegal-Flösselhecht - Albino.jp
- • fishbase.se — Polypterus-senegalus.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Fidji Berio · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.