#polypterus

OK, so this is one of my absolute favorite groups of fishes! I love these little dragons...

Barred Bichir (Polypterus delhezi), family Polypteridae, family Playpteriformes, found in the Congo River System of West Africa

photograph by Hampus Hertzman

Ornate Bichir (Polypterus ornatipinnis), family Polypteridae, family Playpteriformes, found in Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River basin in Central and East Africa

photograph by The Wet Spot

Saddled Bichir (Polypterus endlicherii), family Polypteridae, family Playpteriformes, found in lakes and rivers systems across central Africa

They're small enough to be swallowed whole, especially the bichir tend to eat one after the other, I've counted them eating up to 5 in one sitting so far. Which is why I only feed those as a treat.

Don't worry about the twitching, it's bichir breeding behavior. Though I find it interesting that the female is twitching here, normally it's the male. (Their names are Seph and Brunhilde btw)

They probably laid eggs a few times before, I see the breeding behavior after nearly every big waterchange, but nothing ever came of it. The other fish probably eat them right away. And the one time that I saw some eggs I didn't want to disturb them while laying. Sadly couldn't find any afterwards.

Whoops. 🤣🤣🤣

My darling idiot baby Nutmeg (Polypterus endlicheri) boops the snoot of the much larger Garlic (Polypterus senegalus) 😘