The Guinean bichir (''Polypterus ansorgii'') is a
ray-finned fish
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species.
The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...
from rivers and other freshwater habitats in
Western Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauri ...
, ranging from
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...
to
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...
.
It reaches a maximum length of ,
[ is greenish-brown to black in color, and has large, dark spots and blotches on its sides. On mature specimens, the bottom jaw may protrude very slightly. It is similar to some other ]bichir
Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family of archaic ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The Diversity of Fishes. West Sussex, UK: Blackwell Pu ...
s with which it can be confused.William John Ansorge
William John Ansorge (6 April 1850 – 31 October 1913 at Luanda) was a physician who worked in Angola and Uganda and is known for exploring the fauna of the African region. A large number of species have been named after him based on the specime ...
(1850-1913), who collected type specimen.
References
Polypteridae
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
Fish described in 1910
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