Australian Lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri

Lungfish are the link between fish and amphibians. Ancestors of amphibians, the Australian Lungfish are virtually unchanged over 380 million years. The Australian Lungfish, also called the Queensland Lungfish, is the only remaining species and genus in its family and one of six surviving lungfish worldwide.

Looking and behaving like a fish-amphibian hybrid, the Australian Lungfish is native to slow-moving rivers and well-vegetated still water of Queensland. It can survive in stagnant water by gulping air into a lung as well as breathing through gills, and can survive a few days out of water if it can keep moist. It is mainly nocturnal, an omnivore eating fish, frogs, invertebrates, fruit and aquatic plants.

Brown to olive green with a pale underside, the Lungfish can grow to 1.5 metres (nearly 5 feet) long, females slightly larger than males. Like some newts, males develop an orange-red underside when breeding. Long-lived (100+ years), pairs first spawn at some 20 years old and then not every year. Eggs and young are more like amphibians than fish. They live in small groups.

The Australian Lungfish is native to only two river systems in eastern Queensland and is endangered in both by river development, including dams. Moreover, unlike the American and African Lungfish, it has only one lung sac. Since it cannot bury itself in mud in dry seasons nor cross dry land, they cannot survive the drying out of their habitat.