Seeking all Aussie Lungfish owners
- Thread starter KuhliaFan
- Start date
Yep they get huge as the fish grows. Here is a scale from a lungfish that is 120 cm (4 foot) long
My thoughts exactly. Glad to see the ball is rolling! AUL is on the table right now as a potential acquisition. I'll let you know if it winds up happening. Good luck!
If you have the time, it would be amazing to hear about your techniques, and what you have learned thus far.
Chub-by, that's a good question. Here's my take on it.
Lungfish vs Coelacanth
Which is older, the lungfish or the coelacanth is an ongoing seesawing debate as new and more advanced techniques are developed. I think it is pretty clear that the coelacanth is the oldest living vertebrate we have, but for me the question is more about what is the closest living relative of land animals and us humans. Some say the coelacanth is the closest relative, others say the lungfish (http://www.nature.com/articles/nature12027).
Some even put them on an equal footing with each other (http://www.pnas.org/content/93/11/5449.full.pdf, http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/8/1512.full, http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/4/49).
Either way they both belong to a small and almost extinct group called the lobed finned fishes. A group of fish that have many rudimentary features that land animals have today that has allowed colonisation of land, like fins with bony structures that resemble our own limb bones, lung, enamel in teeth, early kidney type functions, and the list goes on.
So which is older, the coelacanth seems to be the winner of that debate, but which is more significant in our own evolution. It seems the winner of that question is the lungfish, the closest possible precursor to all land based animals including us.
If you ask me there is something truly amazing to think we as humble hobbyist are able to keep a fish that could well have been responsible for us humans evolving. Just think about that for a second, it blows the mind. Not a option for the deep sea coelacanth unfortunately.
We have some recent results coming in on ages of various sized wild lungfish from improved methods. We are really looking forward to getting our hands on known age fish and testing our assumptions. Will be posting some of the advanced techniques we are using soon.
Lungfish vs Coelacanth
Which is older, the lungfish or the coelacanth is an ongoing seesawing debate as new and more advanced techniques are developed. I think it is pretty clear that the coelacanth is the oldest living vertebrate we have, but for me the question is more about what is the closest living relative of land animals and us humans. Some say the coelacanth is the closest relative, others say the lungfish (http://www.nature.com/articles/nature12027).
Some even put them on an equal footing with each other (http://www.pnas.org/content/93/11/5449.full.pdf, http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/8/1512.full, http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/4/49).
Either way they both belong to a small and almost extinct group called the lobed finned fishes. A group of fish that have many rudimentary features that land animals have today that has allowed colonisation of land, like fins with bony structures that resemble our own limb bones, lung, enamel in teeth, early kidney type functions, and the list goes on.
So which is older, the coelacanth seems to be the winner of that debate, but which is more significant in our own evolution. It seems the winner of that question is the lungfish, the closest possible precursor to all land based animals including us.
If you ask me there is something truly amazing to think we as humble hobbyist are able to keep a fish that could well have been responsible for us humans evolving. Just think about that for a second, it blows the mind. Not a option for the deep sea coelacanth unfortunately.
We have some recent results coming in on ages of various sized wild lungfish from improved methods. We are really looking forward to getting our hands on known age fish and testing our assumptions. Will be posting some of the advanced techniques we are using soon.
Yeah sorry Egon, I was getting some feedback from the scientists who will analyse the scale about the best way to get it here to avoid breakdown in the post and make it simple at your end. I've got some instructions sorted and all the bits to send you. I'll send it this week.
Appreciate the information. The more I research these creatures the more fascinated I become. Do fossil records reveal any concrete evidence as to which of the various species of lungfish is the "oldest?" I am anxiously awaiting an update. I plan on picking up an AUL when the opportunity presents itself. I will take care in validating its age when I do so.
Aren't AUL incredibly difficult to get these days, stateside anyway?
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