Order CERATODONTIFORMES

Common name: Living lungfishes
Summary:

The Australian Lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (family Ceratodontidae), is the oldest known living vertebrate, and is the only surviving member of the Order Ceratodontiformes. This species is one of only three native Australian fishes that evolved in freshwater, rather than evolving from a marine ancestor.

Australian Lungfish have highly vascularised swim bladders that are similar to the primitive lungs found in the lower tetrapods or four legged vertebrate animals (amphibians). Although Australian Lungfish usually breathe with their gills, they often gulp air in poorly-oxygenated water or during times of increased activity.

Australian Lungfish have long, heavily scaled bodies, wide flat heads, small eyes, fleshy, paddle-like paired fins and a pointed tail.

Although fossil lungfish are well-known from the Cretaceous Period (165-94 Mya), the fossil record for the order extends back into the Triassic Period (251-200 Mya). Australian Lungfish fossils are known from the Early Cretaceous Period, about 100 million years ago.

Author: Alice M. Clement & Dianne J. Bray
Cite this page as:
Alice M. Clement & Dianne J. Bray, Lungfishes, CERATODONTIFORMES in Fishes of Australia, accessed 26 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/order/11

Order References

Allen, G.R. & N.J. Cross. 2006. Ceratodontidae (pp. 212-213) In Beesley, P.A. & A. Wells. Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Volume 35. Fishes. ABRS & CSIRO Publishing, Part 1.

Brinkmann H, Venkatesh B, Brenner S, Meyer A. 2004. Nuclear proteincoding genes support lungfish and not the coelacanth as the closest living relatives of land vertebrates. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 101(14): 4900-4905.

Bruton, M.N. 1994. In Paxton, J.R. & W.N. Eschmeyer (Eds). 1994. Encyclopedia of Fishes. Sydney: New South Wales University Press; San Diego: Academic Press. 240 pp.

Collin, S.P. 2009. Early evolution of vertebrate photoreception: lessons from lampreys and lungfishes. Integrative Zoology 4(1): 87-98.

Collin, S.P., Davies, W.L., Hart, N.S. & Hunt, D.M. 2009. The evolution of early vertebrate photoreceptors. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 364 1531: 2925-2940.

Johanson, Z., Joss, J.M.P., Sutija, M., Boisvert, C. & P.E. Ahlberg. 2007. Fish fingers: Digit homologues in sarcopterygian fish fins. J. Exp. Zool. B (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 308B: 757-768.

Johanson, Z., Joss, J.M.P. & Wood, D. 2004. Scapulocoracoid development in the Queensland lungfish Neoceratodus forsteri (Dipnoi; Sarcopterygii). Zoology 107: 93-110.

Joss, J. & Z. Johanson. 207. Is Palaeospondylus gunni a fossil larval lungfish? insights from Neoceratodus forsteri development. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B-Molecular and Developmental Evolution, 308B(2): 163-171.

Kemp, A. 1995. Threatened fishes of the world: Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft, 1870) (Neoceratodontidae). Environ. Biol. Fish. 43(3): 310.

Kemp, A. & R.E. Molnar. 1981. Neoceratodus forsteri from the lower Cretaceous of New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Palaeontology 55(1): 211-217, 1 pl., 1 text fig.

Nelson, J.S. 2006. Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 601 p.

Shu, K., Y. Murata, S. Takahashi, M. Asashima, J. M. P. Joss, M. Tanaka & M. Okabe. 2007. Molecular evidence that the lungs and the swimbladder are homologous organs. Journal of Morphology 268(12): 1134.

Takezaki N, Figueroa F, Zaleska-Rutczynska Z, Takahata N, Klein J. 2004. The phylogenetic relationship of tetrapod, coelacanth, and lungfish revealed by the sequences of forty-four nuclear genes. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21(8): 1512-1524.

Yokobori S, Hasegawa M, Ueda T, Okada N, Nishikawa K, Watanabe K: Relationship among coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods: a phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene sequences. J. Mol. Evol. 38(6): 602-609.