reedfish

reedfish, (Erpetoichthys calabaricus), species of air-breathing eel-like African fishes classified in the family Polypteridae (order Polypteriformes), inhabiting the lower stretches of freshwater river systems in Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Their elongated body is covered with rhomboid scales (thick double-layered scales that are often articulated with one another). Reedfishes are about 30 cm (11.8 inches) long as adults, but specimens as long as 37 cm (14.6 inches) have been measured. Their closest living relatives are the bichirs, which are also classified in the family Polypteridae.

Reedfishes mainly inhabit the edges of streams and floodplains. They remain concealed in the reeds and tall grasses by day and forage at night for worms, insect larvae, crustaceans, and small fishes. They are air breathers, surfacing several times a day to gulp air, which fills a primitive lung attached to the digestive tract (see also bichir). The lungs account for about 40 percent of the reedfish’s oxygen uptake, the remainder being evenly split between gills and skin. The International Union of Conservation for Nature and Natural Resources has considered the reedfish to be a near threatened species since 2010.