Protopteridae

Marbled lungfish

Protopterus aethiopicus

Marbled across Nile and Congo basins

• Tropical
• Lower river
• Upper river
• Regional distribution
• Freshwater fish
• Africa
• Elongated
• Large
• Tropical fish

The marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) is a lungfish of the family Protopteridae. Also known as the leopard lungfish, it is found in Eastern and Central Africa, as well as the Nile region. At 133 billion base pairs, it has the largest known genome of any animal and one of the largest of any organism, along with the flowering plant Paris japonica, the fern Tmesipteris oblanceolata and the protist Polychaos dubium at 150 billion, 160 billion and 670 billion, respectively.