The bichirs are a family, Polypteridae, of archaic-looking ray-finned fishes, the sole family in the order Polypteriformes. All species occur in freshwater habitats in tropical Africa and the Nile River system, mainly swampy, shallow floodplains and estuaries. Anatomy and appearance Bichirs are elongated fish with a distinctive series of up to fifteen dorsal finlets, instead of a single dorsal fin. Each of these finlets have a sharp spine. The body is covered in thick, bonelike, ganoid scales.… (More on Bichir)