About Lobe-finned Fishes
The small group of fleshy-finned fishes including coelacanths and lungfishes.
Sarcopterygii are the lobe-finned fishes — the clade that gave rise to tetrapods. Living members are just two groups: coelacanths (Coelacanthiformes) and lungfishes (Dipnoi/Ceratodontiformes).
Morphology. Their paired fins are borne on fleshy lobes with internal skeletal support — the homologous condition of tetrapod limbs. Lungfishes have functional lungs (in addition to gills) and can aestivate in mud during drought; coelacanths retain a vestigial lung and a unique hinged cranium.
Habitat & distribution. Coelacanths are deep, rocky marine habitats off the Comoro Islands and Indonesia/South Africa; lungfishes inhabit freshwater swamps and rivers in Africa, South America, and Australia.
Evolutionary significance. As the sister group to all land vertebrates, they are among the most scientifically important fishes alive.
