Saddled Bichir

About

Found across a broad sweep of West and Central Africa, this subspecies of the saddled bichir, Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri, is one of the most ancient-looking fish you can keep in a freshwater aquarium. Its lineage traces back to relatives that swam alongside dinosaurs in the Triassic, and it shows. The armored, segmented body, fleshy paired fins used almost like legs, and the curious row of finlets along the back all speak to an evolutionary timeline most fish left behind hundreds of millions of years ago. The swim bladder acts as a supplemental breathing organ, allowing the fish to gulp air from the surface, and it will actually suffocate if surface access is blocked. Juveniles even carry external gills, more reminiscent of a salamander larva than a fish. Vision is poor, so this bichir hunts by smell. Mostly at night, emerging from cover to track down invertebrates and small fish. Any tankmate small enough to swallow is at genuine risk, but with appropriately sized companions like large cichlids, arowana, or synodontis catfish it tends to be reasonably tolerant. It is impressively hardy and forgiving of water quality fluctuations, which makes it accessible even to less experienced keepers, provided the tank is large enough to accommodate a fish that can exceed three feet in length. Wild-caught specimens are common in the trade, so quarantine carefully on arrival.