Lungfish skull

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King-eL

Polypterus
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2008
7,178
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Philippines and Canada
Here is a skull of an Aussie Lungfish. Don't worry none of my Aussie lungfish died. This skull was mailed from the Aussie lungfish farm in Queensland. Mail just arrived this afternoon.

For those who keep lungfish, especially the big one like 18"+. You'll probably wondering why they have such a powerful bite that can even crush gravel or any hard object. Take a look at the teeth and you'll see why they are able to do so. The upper and lower mandible looks nothing to any fish you'll see. They have a single crown shape teeth. Also the skull are being supported with lots of muscles. Unlike bichirs, wolffish and bowfins that rely on the gular plate for bite power. Lungfish rely more on pure muscle power for biting. I didn't get to see any present of gular plate below the lower jaw.

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Comparison with a bichir skull.
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wow sweet looks so monster
 
yeah thats why hahaha
 
Man, this makes me want to hack the head off that big Bowfin I've got frozen...Earl any tips on how to de-flesh it?

Also, notice how different it is from Protopterus and Lepidosiren...

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SimonL;3679882; said:
Man, this makes me want to hack the head off that big Bowfin I've got frozen...Earl any tips on how to de-flesh it?

Also, notice how different it is from Protopterus and Lepidosiren...

Yep they are indeed different. I still yet to clean my 30" WAL skull that I just dug out.

I actually boiled the skull with alcohol for 5 minutes to harden the skull as most parts of the skull are very fragile. Then submerge it pure bleach for 1 minute or less to soften the skin and flesh. The longer it submerge itself to the bleach the more fragile the skull gets. After that the careful cleaning starts.

BTW this aussie lungfish skull was still a juvenile, therefore the skull was still in transformation stage.
 
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