Alligator pike: a huge ancient fish that can breathe atmospheric air

Some species of animals that live on our planet today have a very ancient origin. For example, the Mississippi carapace, which appeared in the Eocene era, more than 30 million years ago. During this time, he has not changed at all and the appearance is corresponding: in his bizarre appearance, the features of huge ancient fish and alligators are combined.

The Mississippi carapace, or, as it is also called, the alligator pike (Latin Atractosteus spatula), lives in freshwater or slightly brackish water bodies adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. Not so long ago, these fish were also found in the more northern regions of North America, but today their range has significantly decreased. These large fish, the sizes of which reach 2-2.5 meters, prefer well-heated shallow water bodies. Scientists believe that before they could reach 3 meters in length, but even a modest 2.5 make them one of the largest freshwater fish on the planet.

Mississippi carapace are predators whose body is covered with thick rhomboid scales. The scales of these fish are different from the scales of other fish and consists of two layers. The lower layer is the bone base, and the integumentary layer consists of smooth shiny scales that fit snugly together, forming a continuous coating.

Another interesting feature of these ancient fish is the presence of an unusual swimming bladder. Alligator pike, like other representatives of the genus carapace, has a swimming bladder that acts as a lung. It is saturated with blood vessels, and the fish, having stuck its head out of the water, can breathe atmospheric air with it. That is why they feel great in swampy shallow ponds, in which there is a low oxygen content in the water.

Mississippi carapace are predators, and there is even information about the attack of these fish on humans. Having such dimensions, they may well measure their strength with a person, but experts say that this is the exception rather than the rule. Reported cases of attacks on people are dictated by self-defense, and not by the desire to profit.