Ancient fish
Coelacanths, lungfish, sturgeons, gars, bichirs and lampreys. 37 fish on EveryFish so far.
Ancient fish is a loose name for the living members of very old lineages: lampreys and hagfish, which have no jaws; sturgeons and paddlefish; gars, bowfin and bichirs, with their heavy armoured scales; and the lobe-finned coelacanths and lungfish, close relatives of the first animals to walk on land. Together they number only a few hundred species, but they record the deep history of fish.
Coelacanths and lungfish
The coelacanth was known only from fossils and thought extinct for about 66 million years until a fisherman's catch was recognised off South Africa in 1938. A second species was found in Indonesia in 1997. Both live in deep, rocky slopes and give birth to live young. The six lungfish species, in Africa, South America and Australia, breathe air with true lungs, and African lungfish survive dry seasons buried in mud.
The sturgeon crisis
Sturgeons are large, armoured fish of the rivers and coasts of the Northern Hemisphere, many over a century old when caught. Their roe is caviar. Dams, overfishing and poaching have brought most of them close to extinction, and in 2022 the IUCN found every one of the remaining sturgeon species threatened, while declaring the Chinese paddlefish extinct. Lampreys, by contrast, include the sea lamprey, a parasite that became invasive in North America's Great Lakes.
Famous ancient fish
Still to be written: Beluga (sturgeon), Alligator gar.
Further reading
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreSea lamprey
A jawless, parasitic fish native to the Northern Hemisphere that attacks other fish.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1758
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreAtlantic sturgeon
A large anadromous fish native to the western Atlantic Ocean and its river systems.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreShortnose sturgeon
A small, endangered North American sturgeon with a short snout.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1818
🇺🇸 United StatesPallid sturgeon
An endangered North American sturgeon species native to the Missouri and Mississippi river basins.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1905
🇲🇽 Mexico and 2 moreTropical gar
A small freshwater predator from Central America known for its armored scales and air-breathing ability.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
WorldLamprey
Jawless fish with a sucking mouth found in temperate waters worldwide.Ancient · Rivers and lakes
🇺🇸 United StatesCladoselache
Extinct Late Devonian shark-like fish known for well-preserved fossils and streamlined body.Shark · Coasts and shelves
🇳🇬 NigeriaGymnarchus
African electric fish with a long dorsal fin used for swimming and sensing prey.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1829
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreCoelacanth
Ancient lobe-finned fish thought extinct until rediscovered in the twentieth century.Ancient · Coasts and shelves · 1839
🇺🇸 United StatesAmerican paddlefish
Ancient freshwater fish with a sensory snout and filter-feeding habits.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1792
🇿🇦 South Africa and 4 moreWest Indian Ocean coelacanth
Rare deep-sea fish with blue scales and limb-like fins.Ancient · Deep sea · 1938
🇮🇩 IndonesiaIndonesian coelacanth
A rare brown deep-sea fish found in Indonesian waters.Ancient · Open ocean · 1999
🇸🇳 Senegal and 3 moreSenegal bichir
Ancient African fish that breathes air and walks on landAncient · Rivers and lakes
🇦🇺 AustraliaAustralian lungfish
Ancient air-breathing fish endemic to Queensland rivers, known for its longevity and living fossil status.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1871
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePacific lamprey
An anadromous parasitic jawless fish found along the Pacific Rim.Ancient · Rivers and lakes · 1872
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreAtlantic hagfish
A jawless marine scavenger known for its slime and lack of true eyes.Ancient · Deep sea · 1758
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sea lamprey: Fernando Losada Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lungfish: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Atlantic sturgeon: Jiaqian AirplaneFan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shortnose sturgeon: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pallid sturgeon: USFWS Fish and Aquatic Conservation, Public domain, source
- Tropical gar: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bichir: 5snake5, CC0, source
- Lamprey: Tiit Hunt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cladoselache: James St. John, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gymnarchus: Wiki-Harfus ; modified by Wildfeuer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- American paddlefish: Timothy Knepp, Public domain, source
- Indonesian coelacanth: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- West Indian Ocean coelacanth: sybarite48, CC BY 2.0, source
- Marbled lungfish: George Berninger Jr., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pacific lamprey: Dave Herasimtschuk, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Public domain, source