The ETYFish Project © Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara COMMENTS: v. 3.0 - 25 May 2019 Superclass SARCOPTERYGII Class DIPNOTETRAPODOMORPHA a clade of lobe-finned fishes which includes the lungfishes (dipno-) and the tetrapods (tetrapodo-); morpha, form or shape Subclass DIPNOMORPHA di-, two and pneuma, breath, i.e., double breathing, having both external and internal nostrils; morpha, form or shape Order CERATODONTIFORMES Lungfishes 3 extant families · 3 genera · 9 species/subspecies ceratos, horn; odontos, tooth, referring to prominent, shark-like tooth plates of Ceratodus Agassiz 1838, a cosmopolitan genus of Triassic lungfishes Suborder CERATODONTOIDEI Family NEOCERATODONTIDAE Australian Lungfish Neoceratodus Castelnau 1876 neo-, new; Ceratodus, genus in which N. forsteri had been described (but now restricted to Triassic lungfishes) Neoceratodus forsteri (Krefft 1870) in honor of (and “in justice to”) friend and politician William Forster (1818-1882), Minister of Lands, New South Wales, who presented two specimens of this “great amphibian” to the Australian Museum; the “in justice” comment reflects Krefft’s amends for doubting his longtime friend, who owned large tracts of land near the type locality in Queensland and had tantalized Krefft with tales of a “fish” with a cartilaginous backbone [note: despite Krefft’s claim, Forster did not discover this lungfish (which had been known and eaten by local squatters for decades), nor did he collect the type specimens (now lost); Forster’s cousin, William McCord, an amateur naturalist, provided them, salted and without entrails] Suborder LEPIDOSIRENOIDEI Family LEPIDOSIRENIDAE South American Lungfish Lepidosiren Fitzinger 1837 lepido-, scaled; siren, an aquatic salamander, derived from seiren, a mythological snake with wings, possibly referring to the serpentine shape of aquatic salamanders and their wing-like external gills; Fitzinger considered the lungfish a reptile (which at the time included amphibians) intermediate between the salamander genus Amphiuma and the eel (Muraena), but with scales Lepidosiren paradoxa Fitzinger 1837 strange or contrary to expectation, referring to the seeming paradox of an eel-like salamander covered with scales yet resembling a fish Family PROTOPTERIDAE African Lungfishes Protopterus Owen 1839 protos, first; pterus, fin, referring to rudimentary or embryonic condition of its fins Protopterus aethiopicus aethiopicus Heckel 1851 -icus, belonging to: Aethiopia, classical Greek term for the upper Nile region, where it occurs Protopterus aethiopicus congicus Poll 1961 -icus, belonging to: referring to its occurrence in the middle and upper Congo River Protopterus aethiopicus mesmaekersi Poll 1961 in honor of Is. Mesmaekers, commander of the port of Boma (Democratic Republic of the Congo), for facilitating the shipment of lungfish specimens and their mucus cocoons Protopterus amphibius (Peters 1844) amphi-, double; bios, life, i.e., living a double life, allusion not explained, perhaps reflecting the belief at the time that lungfishes were amphibians, and/or to the fact that this species lives in water during the rainy season and in a “sheath of leaves” (translation) during the dry season CERATODONTIFORMES (Lungfishes) · 1