African lungfish Uganda is one of the most evolutionarily ancient fish in the country, a primitive species that can breathe air and survive for years buried in dried mud, living in the lakes and rivers of western Uganda. The African lungfish is one of Uganda’s strangest animals: a long, eel-like fish that breathes air through lungs and can survive dry seasons buried in mud. Uganda’s species is the marbled lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus), which lives in Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga, Lake Albert and the papyrus swamps around them. It can grow to around 2 metres, and it is the main prey of the shoebill.

African Lungfish in Uganda: The Fish That Breathes Air

How it breathes and survives drought

Adult lungfish are obligate air-breathers: they must rise to the surface to gulp air and will drown if kept underwater. Their gills are reduced, and paired lungs do most of the work. When a swamp dries out, a lungfish can burrow into the mud, seal itself in a mucus cocoon and slow its metabolism for months until the rains return. Lungfish belong to an ancient lineage closely related to the ancestors of land vertebrates.

The shoebill and the Mamba clan

In wetlands such as Mabamba Bay, shoebills stand motionless over channels and lunge at lungfish surfacing to breathe. Lungfish is also an important food fish, sold smoked and fresh in markets. In Luganda it is called emmamba, and it is the totem of the Mamba clan, one of the largest clans of Buganda, whose members traditionally do not eat it.

Seeing lungfish and shoebills

A canoe trip at Mabamba near Entebbe is the easiest way to see shoebills hunting lungfish. The gorilla permit costs US$800, or US$600 in April, May and November. See our guides to shoebills at Mabamba, Mabamba Bay birding, Nile tilapia and Uganda’s wetlands.

Frequently asked questions

Distribution in Uganda

The African lungfish (Protopterus aethiopicus) is found in Uganda’s lake and river systems, particularly Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake George, Lake Edward, and the Kazinga Channel. It is most abundant in shallow, vegetated lake margins and papyrus-fringed waterways with low dissolved oxygen — conditions in which most other fish cannot survive. The species is widespread across Uganda’s freshwater systems and is an important component of the artisanal fishery on Lake Victoria and other lakes.

Breathing Air

The African lungfish is one of only a handful of fish species that are obligate air-breathers — they must surface to breathe or they drown. The lungfish evolved from a lineage that developed air-breathing before the transition to terrestrial life in vertebrates, making lungfish among the closest living fish relatives of tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates including amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). The lungfish’s lung is a modified swim bladder that functions as a true lung, absorbing oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. In water with normal oxygen levels, the fish breathes primarily via its gills; in low-oxygen water, aerial breathing becomes essential.

Aestivation

During dry seasons, when water levels drop and seasonal pools dry out, the African lungfish burrows into the mud and secretes a mucus cocoon around its body, leaving only a small breathing hole to the surface. The fish can remain in this state of aestivation for up to four years without feeding, surviving on metabolised muscle tissue. When water returns, the fish rehydrates and resumes normal activity within hours.

Conservation and Human Use

The African lungfish is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. In Uganda it is harvested as food — ‘mamba’ in local languages — and the dried fish in its aestivation burrow is a traditional catch method. Lake Victoria’s fishing industry includes significant lungfish catch. The species is not threatened in Uganda.

Lungfish: Uganda’s Living Fossil

The African lungfish is sometimes described as a ‘living fossil’ because the lungfish lineage has remained essentially unchanged for 400 million years, predating the dinosaurs by 170 million years. The fossils of Devonian-period lungfish are virtually identical in structure to the living species, making them among the most morphologically stable vertebrate lineages on the planet. This stability reflects not evolutionary inactivity but rather a body plan and ecological niche that has been continuously successful for hundreds of millions of years — the lungfish occupies a specialist position in low-oxygen freshwater environments that few other vertebrates can exploit as effectively. For visitors to Uganda, the lungfish is a fascinating species to encounter in the fish markets around Lake Victoria, where it is commonly sold.