Life span of a Bichir??

[Kohaku]

Hi all,

I recently lost 2 very nice delhezhi, which I have kept for 8yr, and is very sad about it. It has let me to search for answers to how long a bichir can live, but there is not any reliable available information on it on the web.

Anyone who have information on how long bichirs can live either in the wild or aquarium, please share it with us. Else if share with us the longest time that you manage to keep a bichir alive in your aquarium and the species involved. I believe many would find it helpful.

Thanks in advance.

The below is taken from http://www.****************/catalog_pages/wild/polypterus.htm, but dunno how accurate it is.

Customer Comments​

Maximum lifespans of Polypterus species are only guessed at, but several specimens (most of which were obtained as adults or sub-adults) have exceeded 25 years in captivity, so 30 years is not an unreasonable estimate.

 

[peewee]

i got the same thing running through my mind.

 

[King-eL]

I think it would varied from different species and sizes. Also if they are captive breed as they don't seems to last long than wild caught. I have a friend who have a senegals bichirs for 16 years when it died at 13". Those are probabaly first generation captive breed senegal and the genes were still good than captive breed senes today.

I've only been in the bichir game for almost 7 years so mine are still pretty young. I'm not even sure how old my 22"+ nigerian laps are.

 

[Hapdude]

I had an ornate female I named "BUBBLES" for like 24 years in my aquarium. She was about 4" when I got her, and was in the 22"-24" range when I came home and found she was on the floor covered in dog hair. My many attempts to revive her were unsuccessful, much to my disappointment! Given the upmost of care bichirs can be very long lived. It's an enormous responsibility, much more unique than the average fish! With that said, there's nothing to compare to bichirs! Johnathan

 

[Darth Scohin]

I've heard at least 20+ most people lose their bichirs because they jump out or equipment malfunction so until someone has a bichir that dies from old age we may not know for another 20-30 years

 

[Kohaku]

I think it would varied from different species and sizes. Also if they are captive breed as they don't seems to last long than wild caught. I have a friend who have a senegals bichirs for 16 years when it died at 13". Those are probabaly first generation captive breed senegal and the genes were still good than captive breed senes today.

I've only been in the bichir game for almost 7 years so mine are still pretty young. I'm not even sure how old my 22"+ nigerian laps are.

I dun think many people will know the age of their bichirs unless they had them since small. The 2 del that died were 1ft in length and 1.5inch thick and I believe they are the first few generations of wild breed del.

I had an ornate female I named "BUBBLES" for like 24 years in my aquarium. She was about 4" when I got her, and was in the 22"-24" range when I came home and found she was on the floor covered in dog hair. My many attempts to revive her were unsuccessful, much to my disappointment! Given the upmost of care bichirs can be very long lived. It's an enormous responsibility, much more unique than the average fish! With that said, there's nothing to compare to bichirs! Johnathan

Any verification for your words? I dun even know of this species when I was young and and it was not until around 1998 or later that I first came across captive breed bichirs in my country.

It goes to show that nobody has ever have a living speciment that is 20yrs or older it is just a unreached or little known species. Unless there are scientific papers or documented prove of its live span, it remains a mystery of its age. I still got 1 piece of del that is 8yrs old, maybe I try to see how much longer can I keep it alive.

If anyone has a way to find out the live span of a bichir from the scale rims or other identification ways, do share with us.

 

[scorp]

Hi,

we had the same discussion last year on the German board. The two oldest bichir were a palmas polli with over 30 years and a ornatipinnes in Austria with 35 years including a complete history of owners (private, zoo, etc.). It had 25"!

 

[King-eL]

Hi,

we had the same discussion last year on the German board. The two oldest bichir were a palmas polli with over 30 years and a ornatipinnes in Austria with 35 years including a complete history of owners (private, zoo, etc.). It had 25"!

Wow. Whoever that person is, really did took good care of them. Just wondering how big the polli?

 

[scorp]

The polli was around 16"-18", if I remember correctly. The ornatipinnis had several owners. First the retailer, then private, then a zoo in Austria for a lot of years and finally private again.

 

[Madding]

I dun think many people will know the age of their bichirs unless they had them since small. The 2 del that died were 1ft in length and 1.5inch thick and I believe they are the first few generations of wild breed del.



Any verification for your words? I dun even know of this species when I was young and and it was not until around 1998 or later that I first came across captive breed bichirs in my country.

It goes to show that nobody has ever have a living speciment that is 20yrs or older it is just a unreached or little known species. Unless there are scientific papers or documented prove of its live span, it remains a mystery of its age. I still got 1 piece of del that is 8yrs old, maybe I try to see how much longer can I keep it alive.

If anyone has a way to find out the live span of a bichir from the scale rims or other identification ways, do share with us.

Just wondering why you asked your question at all if you're not going to believe peoples answers?