The Reproduction and Development
Males are ready to breed at around 17 years of age where as the female lungfish is able to breed at around 22. Lungfish spawn in pairs, depositing large, jelly-like eggs in and around aquatic plants. Spawning season is from August to November, but a good spawning season only come once every 5 years . The time that it takes for the lungfish to spawn is said to be about a day long. The eggs are found almost everywhere; in light or dark, slow or fast moving waters and on aquatic plants rooted in sand and gravel; but never on plants with slimy algae, in stagnant water or where debris is floating on the water.
The Australian lungfish doesn't have any nest or real parental care when the eggs hatch, unlike the African and South-African lungfish. Lungfish usually spawn alone; sometimes in pairs but very rarely in clusters. The male fish fertilizes the eggs as they come out of the females body.The newly Laid egg is hemispherical, delicate, heavily yolked, and enclosed in a single vitelline and triple jelly envelope. Only a small hundred eggs are laid in the wild, where as in captivity, the female can lay up to 600 eggs in her lifetime. on day 17 the shape and structure of the head can be visibly seen, but the egg takes 3-4 weeks to hatch. Young lungfish are fast growers, growing about 2 inches every month. The young lay on their sides for the first week, hiding in the roots of aquatic plants and only moving when simulated by a touch.
The Australian lungfish doesn't have any nest or real parental care when the eggs hatch, unlike the African and South-African lungfish. Lungfish usually spawn alone; sometimes in pairs but very rarely in clusters. The male fish fertilizes the eggs as they come out of the females body.The newly Laid egg is hemispherical, delicate, heavily yolked, and enclosed in a single vitelline and triple jelly envelope. Only a small hundred eggs are laid in the wild, where as in captivity, the female can lay up to 600 eggs in her lifetime. on day 17 the shape and structure of the head can be visibly seen, but the egg takes 3-4 weeks to hatch. Young lungfish are fast growers, growing about 2 inches every month. The young lay on their sides for the first week, hiding in the roots of aquatic plants and only moving when simulated by a touch.