322 



Annals of the South African Museum. 

 PROTOPTERUS ANNECTENS, Owen. 



(The Lung-fish.) 



Lepidosiren annectens, Owen, Proc. Linn. Soc., 1839, p. 27. 



Protopterm anguillifonnis, Owen, Pr. Linn. Soc., t.c., p. 332 ; 

 Peters, Eeise n. Mossamb., iv., Flussfiche, Berlin, 1868, p. 6. 



Rhinocryptos amphibia, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac., 1844, p. 414. 



Protopterus annectens, Bouleng., Gat. Freshw. Fish. Afr.,i., p. 20 

 (1909). 



Depth of body 8f- times in total length. Length of head 4 times 

 in distance from point of snout to vent ; snout broadly rounded, 

 about J length of head ; eye small, its diameter nearly 12 times in 

 length of head, 3f times in interocular width. External gills 

 distinct. 



FIG. 1. Protopterus annectens. . 



Dorsal originating nearer to occiput than to vent. Fore limb 

 longer than hind limb and provided with a well-developed fringe ; 

 hind limb with a more or less distinct or rudimentary fringe. 48 to 

 50 scales from gill-opening to above vent, 36 round middle of body. 



Colour (of preserved specimen) bluish brown above, yellow 

 reticulated with bluish-brown markings on belly ; sides indistinctly 

 mottled. 



One specimen, 358 mm. in length, found in dried ground at Villa 

 Machado, Portuguese East Africa ; collected by Eogers and Chubb. 

 Bulawayo Museum. One example from West Africa. 



This fish is also reported from Chiromo, Shire River ; West Africa, 

 from the Senegal to the Niger ; Chad Basin ; East Africa, as far 

 south as the Zambezi. It grows to a length of at least 650 mm. 



Mr. Peters (Eeise n. Mossamb, t.c., p. 6) states: "I found this 

 animal fairly common in the small stagnant pools in the district of 



