lungfish

American  

[luhng-fish] / ˈlʌŋˌfɪʃ /

noun

lungfishes plural

1. any of various slender, air-breathing fishes of the order (or subclass) Dipnoi, of rivers and lakes in Africa, South America, and Australia, having a lunglike air bladder as well as gills and growing to a length of 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters).

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lungfish British  

/ ˈlʌŋˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any freshwater bony fish of the subclass Dipnoi, having an air-breathing lung, fleshy paired fins, and an elongated body. The only living species are those of the genera Lepidosiren of South America, Protopterus of Africa, and Neoceratodus of Australia

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lungfish Scientific  

/ lŭng′fĭsh′ /

1. Any of several tropical freshwater fish of the order or subclass Dipnoi that, in addition to having gills, have lunglike organs for breathing air. Lungfish have a long, narrow body, and certain species can survive periods of drought inside a mucus-lined cocoon in the mud. The lungfish and the coelacanths are the only living lobe-finned fishes.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• lungfishes
  plural
• lungfish
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lungfish

First recorded in 1880–85; lung + fish

Example Sentences

Fresh analyses from two separate studies are helping researchers better understand ancient lungfish, a group that represents the closest living relatives of land vertebrates.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2026

For example, lungfish and sharks have spiral-shaped digestive tracts that leave poop with twisty swirls.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 27, 2024

Frogs, salamanders and lungfish had far bigger genomes than humans did.

From New York Times • May 31, 2024

Seeking to learn about the evolutionary origins of acoustic communication in vertebrates, the scientists recorded 53 species from four major clades — turtles, tuatara, caecilians and lungfish — to analyze what they heard.

From Salon • Nov. 9, 2022

Suffice it to say that the scientist now believes that out of the lungfish of the Devonian came the amphibians of the Carboniferous period.

From The Meaning of Evolution by Schmucker, Samuel Christian