Lepidosiren paradoxa
FAMILY
Lepidosirenidae
TAXONOMY
Lepidosiren paradoxa Fitzinger, 1837, Amazon River; Brazil.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Anguille tété; German: Lurchfische; Portuguese: Pirambóia, peixe pulmonado.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
To 4.1 ft (1.25 m) in length. Usually dark brown (sometimes gray) with darker and lighter spots and blotches dorsally and laterally.
DISTRIBUTION
Most of the Amazon basin, from Peru to the Amazon River delta, and in the Paraná-Paraguay Rivers basin as far south as the La Plata system. Recently reported in French Guiana, and probably occurs elsewhere in tropical South America.
HABITAT
Swamps, slow-moving waters, floodplains, and pools.
BEHAVIOR
An obligate air breather with reduced gills; can remain inactive for months during estivation, sometimes by closing the chamber
opening so as to prevent further desiccation. This species is very intolerant of the close proximity of conspecifics under aquarium conditions. It also may be hyperdispersed in the wild.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on insects, insect larvae, other invertebrates and fishes, as well as algae; reported to masticate prey before swallowing.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Males present modified pelvic fins during reproduction, which develop featherlike protuberances that are highly vascularized and are believed to be accessory respiration organs, but it is not clear if they aid the adult or the larvae (or both). The male creates burrows in which the eggs are deposited and the larvae develop. Eggs are about 0.27 in (7 mm) in diameter. Hatchlings exhibit four pairs of external gills, and ventral adhesive glands anchor them in the burrow (both gills and adhesive glands are lost after six to eight weeks), after which they emerge to take their first breath of air, at about 1.6 in (4 cm) in length.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Not consumed regularly as food. Often displayed in public aquaria, where it can live for many years. Not widely kept by amateur aquarists and does not figure prominently in the ornamental fish trade.
