Coelacanth
(Pictured above is a preserved specimen from the VIMS Ichthyological Collection.)

Family: Latimeriidae

Species:  Latimeria chalumnae

Range: one population is known to exist off Grand Comoro and Anjouan Islands; another may exist near Indonesia.

Habitat: inhabit rocky reefs at depths ranging from 120 to 700 meters.

Food:  reef or midwater fishes and squids.

Characters useful in identification:  lobed fins (two dorsal fins, one anal fin; paired lobed pectoral and pelvic fins; extra lobe in the tail fin); absence of a fully formed vertebral column; joint in the skull which allows the front part of the head to be lifted during feeding. 

Color:  deep metallic blue (sometimes almost brown in color) with irregular white spots.

Another view of the specimen from the VIMS Ichthyological Collection.

Reproduction: live egg bearers which carry between 20 and 65 developing eggs; the eggs are large (3 1/2 inches in diameter) and hatch internally.

Maximum size: slightly over 1.8 meters (6 feet) in length.

Other interesting tidbits:

• This impressive fish was first discovered in 1938 off East London, South Africa and is considered a living fossil.  Read about its discovery.
• Despite misleading reports of its extinction, it was recently discovered near Indonesia on 30 July 1998 in a shark gill-net at the base of a steep volcanic slope.  This discovery is over 10,000 miles from the only other known population of coelacanths. 
• The coelacanth has been called "old four legs" because of its four lobed fins which are believed by many scientists to be the precursors to legs of four-legged land animals.
• It is a living representative of a lineage of fishes which dates back to the Triassic period (240 million years ago).

Other coelacanth websites:

• http://weber.u.washington.edu/~islander/fish.html
• http://www.amnh.org/Exhibition/Expedition/Treasures/Coelacanth/coelacan.html
• http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/coelacan.htm
• http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~lindsay/creation/coelacanth.html
• Recent coelacanth scientific articles: http://www.dinofish.com/articles.htm
• http://www.dinofish.com/

References:

Erdman, M.V. and R.L. Caldwell.  1998.  Indonesian 'king of the sea' discovered.  Nature. Vol 199.

Nelson, J. 1994. Fishes of the World.  3rd. Ed.  John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Paxton, J.R. and W.N. Eschmeyer.  1994.  Encyclopedia of Fishes.   Academic Press.  pp. 73-74.

For any comments or suggestions, contact the Fisheries Webmaster (cfb@vims.edu)
Date last modified: 07/12/99