Disclaimer: The sky is blue.

I got the idea to do a chapter about the Queensland lungfish based on the "Creature A-Z" song. It mentions said creature even though there's never been an episode about/featuring it.

BKL

It was a peaceful night in the Coral Sea. The Octonauts were nuzzling into their beds for a good night's sleep.

Out near the river, Lekona was out in the GUP-D on his night patrol, checking to see if there were any creatures that needed help and couldn't wait until morning. Just when he thought they were in the clear, he heard a yelp. He turned around and he saw a small fish flailing about. He drove over to it.

"Oi, mate, what's wrong?" Lekona approached the little fish.

"I need help!" The fish yelled. "I lost my damn kids again!"

"Okay, calm down, buddy," said Lekona. "I can help you find your kids." He put a call in to the Octopod. "Lekona to Captain Barnacles."

"Go ahead, Lekona." Captain Barnacles answered from his quarters.

"We've got this fish out here that lost his kids." Lekona gestured to the fish.

"We'll be with you in a moment." Captain Barnacles knocked on the connecting door.

"Wha's goin' on?" Kwazii mumbled sleepily.

"We've got a situation outside," said Captain Barnacles. "We're going to investigate."

BLK

The GUP-A exited the Octopod and found Lekona and the fish waiting for them.

"The name's Kingsley," said the fish. "I'm looking for my kids. They're the greatest bunch around, but take your eyes off them for five seconds and they're gone."

"I know the feeling," said Captain Barnacles. "I swear that Shellington gets lost every time he leaves the Octopod."

"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Lekona asked.

"Who knows? Some could be on land by now." Kingsley shrugged.

"Land?!" All three Octonauts looked at him like he had ten fins.

"Yeah. We're Queensland lungfish," said Kingsley. "We have a lung that we use to go on land."

"I believe there's a book in the Octopod with something about this," said Captain Barnacles. "Last time I checked, it's called Of Lads and Lungfish."

"Think it's in the lab," said Kwazii.

"Right. We're gonna have to go borrow it."

For once, it was Kwazii gawking at Captain Barnacles' wild scheme. "Captain, that's Shellington's favourite book; he never lets it out of his sight! He'd murder you if you lost it!"

"We'll just slip in, borrow it for this mission, and then put it back. He'll never know it was gone." Captain Barnacles and Kwazii re-entered the GUP and went back to the Octopod to retrieve the book.

BKL

"Christ, Captain, I can't believe you're going through with this."

"Calm down, Kwazii. Trust me, Shellington would sleep through a hurricane given the opportunity."

Captain Barnacles crept into the back room of the lab. The book was on the bedside table, while Shellington was cocooned in his blanket and snoring like a hippo, completely unaware of what was happening. He picked up a random book off the shelf, slipped it in Of Lads and Lungfish's place, picked up the object of desire, and got out of there before he could do something that might have woken Shellington.

BKL

"Alright." Captain Barnacles, Kwazii, Lekona, and Kingsley were hovering over the book in the GUP-A. "It says here that Queensland lungfish rarely produce surviving offspring because of how rarely the conditions are just right, so juvenile Queensland lungfish are difficult to find."

"That doesn't explain where my kids went," grumped Kingsley. "They're all completely healthy. I just don't know where they are."

"It also says that lungfish normally live in deep freshwater rivers," said Lekona.

"Right now, we're in the Boyne River," said Captain Barnacles.

"Wait, where?" Kingsley asked, with an "aha!" look on his face.

"The Boyne River," said Captain Barnacles. "It's a river in Central Queensland."

"Of course!" Kingsley exclaimed. "My kids ain't lost; I am! I'm supposed to be in the Herbert River!"

Lekona opened the map. "That's further south from here." The Octonauts set a course for the correct river.

BKL

Upon arrival in the Herbert River, Kwazii and Lekona exited the GUP to help Kingsley find his kids.

"Let's see, we gotta find Rex, Leroy, Candace, Gina, Kimberly, Himeko…"

"Right, we find little fishies that look like you," said Kwazii. "Let's go get them so I can go back to bed." They searched the river for Kingsley's den.

"Here it is," said Kingsley upon finding it. He entered, only to find all of his children still inside, sleeping as if nothing had happened.

"They're all here! Even little Orla!" Kingsley was grinning from fin to fin.

"What I'd like to know is how he ended up in the Boyne River in the first place," grumbled Kwazii.

"The water got a bit funky," said Kingsley. "I went up on land for a bit, and then I found some worms to eat. I must have gone out further than I thought."

"Now I see where your kids get their wandering habits from," said Lekona, in a joking fashion.

BKL

The next morning, the Octonauts all ate breakfast together.

"I found one of my books in the wrong place this morning," said Shellington. "Princess Pelican was ahead of The Littlest Goldfish, when it's supposed to be behind it."

Captain Barnacles and Kwazii exchanged a look of 'oh crap'. "Uh…did you maybe put it away in the wrong place?"

"Of course not! The Littlest Goldfish is by Karina Kangaroo, so it goes ahead of Princess Pelican." Shellington sighed. "I must be losing my marbles."

Captain Barnacles and Kwazii relaxed their shoulders. They had gotten away with it.

BKL

Information about the Queensland lungfish taken from Australian Museum, Queensland Museum, and Wikipedia

Information about the Boyne and Herbert Rivers taken from Wikipedia

I didn't do a Creature Report this time because I think it's weird that they did Creature Reports in both "The Crab and Urchin" and "Operation Cooperation" even though only 2-3 people were awake when those missions happened (and because I'm lazy).