Ornate Bichir Polypterus ornatipinnis

Bichirs are prehistoric fish which have specially-adapted swim bladders to enable them to breathe air and survive out of water for long periods. Looking and behaving like a fish-amphibian hybrid, the Ornate Bichir is native to lakes, rivers, streams and swamps of Central and East Africa, particularly the Congo basin and Lake Tanganyika.

They have poor eyesight but a good sense of smell and are mainly nocturnal, hunting small fish, worms and other invertebrates at night in shallow water and on banks. A large bichirs, it can grow to 60cm (2 feet) long. It has a protruding upper jaw (unlike the larger Congo Bichir which has a protruding lower jaw) and striped patterns on its fins, with a brown or grey-brown body.