Confined to the freshwaters of Africa. Body elongated or anguilliform covered with thick bonelike rhombic scales sheathed with ganoin. Symmetric caudal fin; dorsal with one series of finlets formed by a spinous ray supporting one small membrane. Pectorals with lobed base covered with scales. Swim bladder bilobed, left lobe less developed than right; located ventral to and attached to esophagus; serves as accessory respiratory organ. With functional gills; young with branched external gills which disappear in adults. Pelvics lacking in Calamoichthys calabaricus; body elongate and with pelvics in Polypterus. About 1.2 m maximum length but most species are below 30 cm. Nine of the ten species occur in the Zaire river basin.
Note: Families with unknown counts of dorsal or anal spines are also included