Bichir is an African freshwater fish. The body is long and narrow, and is covered with hard, shiny, rectangular scales. The pectoral (side) fins are fanlike with fleshy stalks. There are several species, ranging in length from about 14 to 28 inches (35 to 70 centimeters).
Bichirs live in the weedy margin of lakes and rivers. They feed on small fish and frogs. Bichirs normally breathe like most other fish, in that they obtain oxygen from water using their gills. In a drought, or when their water becomes polluted, bichirs can take in oxygen by breathing air. In this case, the fish’s baglike swim bladder acts like a lung, absorbing oxygen into blood vessels in the thin walls of the swim bladder.
