EXISTING GROUP. 
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great masses in the Chako swamps; their shells being easily crushed by the power¬ 
ful teeth of their devourers. 
African Mud Fish The African mud-fish (Protopterus annectans), widely spread 
over the tropical regions of the continent from which it takes its 
name, differs from the last in that the filamentous fins retain a small fringe 
containing rays; as well as in having six gill-arches, with five intervening clefts, 
while there are three small tentacle-like appendages above the small gill-opening 
on each side. In the Gambia River, where they are very abundant, these fishes 
are in the habit of burying themselves during the dry season, making a kind of 
AFRICAN MUD-FISH liat. size). 
nest, in which they pass a period of torpidity. Here they may remain for the 
greater part of the year, only resuming their normal aquatic life with the return 
of the wet seasons. Professor W. N. Parker, who received some specimens in the 
torpid condition, writes that about a hundred individuals were dug out and packed 
up in crates still enclosed in the clods of mud. On arrival in Europe the clods 
were opened, and the fishes placed in a tank in a hothouse. The statement of the 
natives that the species grows to the almost incredible length of 6 feet suggests 
that it must be a very long-lived creature. From the above-mentioned specimens 
it was found that these mud-fishes grow very rapidly, have great vitality, and, 
although able to sustain fasts, are exceedingly voracious, devouring all the snails, 
