Queensland lungfish

The Queensland lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), also known as the Australian lungfish, Burnett salmon and barramunda, is a surviving member of the family Neoceratodontidae and order Ceratodontiformes. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. Endemic to Australia,[4] the Neoceratodontidae are an ancient family belonging to the class Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fishes.[5]

Fossil records of this group date back 380 million years, around the time when the higher vertebrate classes were beginning to evolve.[6] Fossils of lungfish almost identical to this species have been uncovered in northern New South Wales, indicating that Neoceratodus has remained virtually unchanged for well over 100 million years, making it a living fossil and one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet.[6]

It is one of six extant representatives of the ancient air-breathing Dipnoi (lungfishes) that flourished during the Devonian period (about 413–365 million years ago) and is the outgroup to all other members of this lineage.[6][7] The five other freshwater lungfish species, four in Africa and one in South America, are very different morphologically from N. forsteri.[6] The Queensland lungfish can live for several days out of the water, if it is kept moist, but will not survive total water depletion, unlike its African counterparts.[4]

The small settlement of Ceratodus, Queensland derives its name from that of the Queensland lungfish. The species was named in honour of the squatter and politician William Forster.[8]