Transcript:

Today on animal fact files we’re talking about bichirs and reedfish. There seems to be a lot of debate over how the name “bichir” should be pronounced. The pronunciations range from “bi-sure” to “bicker” and “biker” but we’re sticking with “bi-sheer” since that’s what wikipedia says is right! Bichirs are classified in the same family as the lonely reedfish, the sole living species of its genus. Because we don’t want the reedfish to feel left out, we’ll talk about them in today’s episode, as well.

There are approximately fifteen living species in the bichir fish family, though new research will likely lead to the discovery of new species. Bichirs are funny looking fish for a number of reasons. The most obvious distinction is that instead of sporting a single dorsal fin, bichirs have anywhere from five to eighteen finlets that are all separated from each other; so it looks like they have little, singular flags flying over their backs. This has led to another bichir common name: the flagfish. Reedfish also have these individual finlets adorning their snakey, eel-like bodies. Bichirs and reedfish also have fan shaped, fleshy pectoral fins. These fins are useful for capturing prey, and we’ll be discussing why towards the end of this video! Bichir scales are rhombus-like in shape. These scales are covered in a shiny material similar to the scales of gars - some other oddballs of the fish world. And to top it off, bichirs can breathe air. They’ll compress their bodies in an exhale and then as their body cavities bounce back to their original shape, air will be gulped in through spiracles - another feature not often seen in other fishes. It’s kind of like pressing the bulb of a pipette is the bichir’s exhale and then the pipette returning to its original shape is the bichir’s inhale. So, yeah, these are some strange fish!

Bichirs and reedfish can be found in tropical and subtropical Africa. They live in shallow, freshwater systems, usually towards the shores. Reedfish specifically seem to favor areas with reed plants, hence the common name! Bichir homes include rivers, lakes, swamps, and floodplains. In fact, they utilize these flood plains for breeding. Bichirs begin breeding with the onset of the rainy season during the summer months. Females will lay 200-300 eggs that are fertilized by males in vegetated areas. These eggs are left on their own and hatch about four days later. The young fish emerge with external gills, not unlike the axolotls we’ve talked about previously. After a few weeks of development, the external gills are no longer present. Reedfish have a slightly different breeding strategy. The female will deposit a few eggs near the male’s anal fins. He’ll fertilize the eggs and then spread them among aquatic plants to which the eggs will instantly stick. The parents will repeat this multiple times. The eggs hatch within 70 hours, but the babies will remain attached to the plants and stay here for about three weeks staying nourished from their yolk sacs. Once this is depleted, they’ll begin eating.

Bichirs and reedfish typically reach about a foot (30cm) in length, but they’ve been documented as reaching more than triple this! They have little shark-like teeth that help them hold onto prey while they’re active at night. Menu items for these fish include small fish, amphibians like frogs, aquatic insects, and even terrestrial insects. That’s right, these fish are able to use their fins as a means of moving around on land. As long as they stay moist, bichirs and reedfish can even hunt terrestrial animals. This is because they have modified swim bladders that act as lungs. These fish can remain outside of water in damp conditions for hours, and, in fact, they actually can’t survive if they aren’t able to breathe oxygen from air from time to time - they’ll otherwise drown! So oxygen deprived waters are no problem for these pioneering fish.

For more facts on bichirs and reedfish, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Atrocious Allosaurus for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.