The slender lungfish is a freshwater fish and it largely inhabits the middle and lower Congo River basin.

[4] As most tropical fish are ammoniotelic, being on land can induce ammonia toxicity – with negative organismal and cellular level consequences – due to a lack of water to flush excreted ammonia from the gills and other cutaneous surfaces.

[4] Studies have shown that the slender lungfish has evolved the ability to reduce endogenous ammonia production, as well as an ornithine-urea cycle to increase the conversion rate of ammonia to less toxic urea, to defend against this toxicity.

[1] During this time period the male makes a nest and buries it in mud, not unlike the marbled lungfish mating behavior.

[3][1] The female does not take care of the young but rather during this time can be found open water in rivers within its range.