620 Subclass Dipneusti, or Lung-fishes 



in the rainy season have a depth of from two to four feet, be- 

 coming entirely dry in the southern winter (June, July). 



Kerr on the Habits of Lepidosiren. The loalach, as the Lepi- 

 dosiren is locally called, is normally sluggish, wriggling slowly 

 about at the bottom of the swamp, using its hind limbs in 

 irregular alternation as it clambers through the dense vegeta- 

 tion. More rapid movement is brought about by lateral 

 strokes of the large and powerful posterior end of the body. 

 It burrows with great facility, gliding through the mud, for 

 which form of movement the shape of the head, with the 



FIG. 389. Embryo (3 days before hatching) and larva (13 days after hatching) 

 of Lepidosiren paradoxa Fitzinger. (After Kerr.) 



upper lip overlapping the lower and the external nostril placed 

 within the lower lip, is admirably adapted. It feeds on plants, 

 algae, and leaves of flower-plants. The gills are small and quite 

 unable to supply its respiratory needs, and the animal must 

 rise to the surface at intervals, like a frog. It breathes with 

 its lungs as continuously and rhythmically as a mammal, the 

 air being inhaled through the mouth. The animal makes no 

 vocal sound, the older observation that it utters a cry like 

 that of a cat being doubtless erroneous. Its strongest sense is 

 that of smell. In darkness it grows paler in color, the black 



