All fish / Polypteridae

Nile Bichir

Polypterus bichir

Also known as nile bichir, banded bichir, bichir, lacepede's bichir, polypterus bichir bichir, dinosaur eel, dragon fish, ポリプテルス・ビキール, 尼罗河恐龙鱼, 尼罗多鳍鱼

A long, armoured, eel-like fish with heavy ganoid scales, a row of small finlets along the back and dark bands across an olive-brown body. Keepers prize it as a living fossil with a prehistoric look and a lot of personality, and it can gulp air using lung-like organs.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

60 cm

Temperature

24 to 28 °C

pH

6.5 to 7.8

Smallest tank

1500 litres

Keep as

Single specimen or a small group in a very large tank

Diet

Carnivore: fish fillet, prawns, mussels, earthworms, large sinking carnivore pellets

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

15 to 30 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Nile basin, Lake Chad, Lake Rudolf (Turkana) and Volta, Niger, Gambia and Senegal basins in Africa

Breeding

Spawning in captivity is very rarely recorded; in the wild it breeds in flooded margins during the rainy season and scatters eggs among vegetation. Home breeding is essentially unknown.

Good to know

One of the largest bichirs, reaching 70 cm or more, so it needs a huge tank with a tight lid as it is an escape artist. It will eat any fish small enough to swallow.