2696 



THE LUNGFISHES AND CHIM^EROIDS 



As might have been inferred from the study of allied extinct forms, the large pal- 

 atal teeth are formed by the fusion of a number of separate small teeth. Accord- 

 ing to Dr. Semon, the Australian lungfish is confined to the middle portion of the 

 Burnett and Mary rivers of Queensland. Living among the mud and leaves at the 

 bottom, it rises at intervals to the surface to obtain more complete oxygenation of 

 its blood by the inhalation of atmospheric air into its lungs, although its general 

 breathing is carried on by the gills. A grunting noise sometimes uttered by this 

 fish is probably produced by the expulsion of the air from the lungs when it rises to 

 the surface. Although frequently termed the barramundi a title apparently prop- 

 erly belonging to a totally different fish (Osteoglossum} it appears that the proper 

 native name of the Australian lungfish is djelleh. The breeding season is at its 



SOUTH-AFRICAN MUDFISH. 



(One-fifth natural size.) 



height in September and October, but lasts from April till the beginning of Novem- 

 ber; and the eggs, which are enveloped in a gelatinous coat, and are heavier than 

 water, take some ten days to hatch. 



The mudfish of the Amazons (Lepidosiren paradoxa} is the sole 

 South- Amer- 

 ican Mud- re P resentatl ve of a genus distinguished from the last by the eel-like 



fish form of the body, on which the continuous vertical fin extends nearly 



to the neck, and by the reduction of the limbs to mere tapering fila- 

 ments owing to the disappearance of the marginal fringe. The vomerine teeth are 

 conical and pointed, and the palatal teeth have strongly-marked cusps supported by 

 vertical ridges. There are five gill arches, with four intervening clefts, but there 

 are no external appendages above the gill opening. In adult males the upper sur- 



