The Coelacanth: The Fish That Didn’t Get Away
The Coelacanth was thought to be extinct. All scientist had was a four million year old fossil but this all changed when a live Coelacanth was found in 1938.
The Coelacanth is a fish that was thought to be extinct with the dinosaurs. The Coelacanth has very large eyes and distinct silver blue scales with white markings. It can grow up to 1.8 meters in length and can weigh up to 95 kilograms. It has a jaw that is hinged at the cranium and has bony, meaty, jointed fins. This is why it is thought by scientist that they once walked the earth and had lungs. Their reproduction is very slow and they are now an endangered species which I suppose is a giant step from being thought extinct. This fish did not get away but came very close to it.
The Coelacanth was thought to be extinct; at least until 1938 when Marjorie Courtenay Latimer found just such a fish in a fisherman’s boat and took it with her, later sending it to the fish to scientist J.L.B. Smith who confirmed that what Marjorie had found, was a Coelacanth. All scienctist had on this fish until now, was a four hundred million year old fossil. The Coelacanth was thought to be extinct for many years. This fish predates the dinosaur by millions of years and it was even thought that this fish had gone the way of the dinosaur. This discovery was the same to the scientific field as finding a live Dinosaur.
After finding and confirming the fish Coelacanth the scientific world started to hunt for another one. it took many years but they did find a second one in 1952 on the Comoro Islands between the tip of Madagascar and East Africa. Smith was so paranoid about this fish that he slept with it all the way home. Again in 1987 this fish was filmed by a submersible at the Comoros Islands. At the time it was thought that this was the only home of the four million year old fish species but this was only until one was caught Mozambique in 1991 and Madagascar in 1995. There are also sub species found of the Coelacanth but the real Coelacanth is found today in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and even the South Pacific.
What a find for this world. A fish that is thought to have lived on land over four million years ago and adapted to water over the centuries to swim in out waters of today. We are all aware of how extinction affects our planet but to find a species that was thought to be extinct and is alive and well is the greatest find man could have ever made. Maybe there is still hope for other species that we thought were extinct to reappear once again. The finding of this fish lets our imaginations run wild with possibilities.
Image via Wikipedia
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12 Responses to “The Coelacanth: The Fish That Didn’t Get Away”
On March 24, 2009 at 5:22 am
An interesting read. It is a pity more of our extinct species done make a come back.
Christine
On March 24, 2009 at 5:32 am
a very interesting and informative article. Thanks for sharing.
On March 24, 2009 at 7:37 am
Enjoyable article as always, it gives hope for other species we believe are extinct. Nice pictures too.
On March 24, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Intrigued once again by your educational and interesting articles. Wonderful information!
On March 24, 2009 at 7:39 pm
This is good news. I wonder how the world will be if the human species become extinct. Better or worse? Just a thought..
On March 24, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Hmmmm! A few points of fact:
1. The living coelacanth was discovered (for science) by Captain Hendrik Goosen and the crew of the trawler “Nerine” in December 1938. Marjorie SAVED it for science. Comoran fishermen had been catching the fish for scores of years before that.
2, The living coelacanth never walked on the land – it was always aquatic.
3. There are some 200 species of fossil coelacanths dating back to 400-million years ago.
4. Latimeria, the living coelacanth, has not been found in the South Pacific. Their natural habitat appears to be the western Indian Ocean with a close relative living ion Indonesia.
On March 25, 2009 at 7:10 am
Robin , first of all I thank you for your input. I never said that Marjorie caught the fish I said she found it in a fishing boat and brought it back to send to science.
2. I never said they walked on land , I said some scientist thought they did walk on land and through evolution adapted to the sea.
3. Yes, there are many fossils of Coelacanth.
3. The information that I know say they were found in the South Pacific but you are right in that they are mostly found in the Indian Ocean.
4. This being said isn’t it exciting that they found them at all! Imagine finding something that we thought was extinct long ago but is alive and well!!!!! You can’t beat this. Thanks so much for your information.
On March 25, 2009 at 3:36 pm
this is a wonderful article! It’s well written and informative, and I love the choice of pictures.
On March 26, 2009 at 2:16 am
Yaffel.
Marjorie didn’t find the fish in a fishing boat. Capt. Goosen had it especially put aside for her – read again her first letter to JLB Smith: “The Captain told me about it ….”. SAIAB, what used to be the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology has loads of informative material in its archives that supports the above. (I was senior technician there for 20+ years !!!)
No scientists ever said or thought coelacanths walked on land! The ‘Old Fourlegs’ appellation was concocted by the media!
Indeed! Finding a ‘living fossil’ was certainly exciting – shook the scientific community to the core. Since then other ‘living fossils’ have been discovered but none created the stir that the ‘Old Oily One’ did!
On March 26, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Isn’t nature amazing? It’s stranger than anything we find in fiction, unimaginable.
On March 28, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Very interesting article. I have been a paleo-nerd since I was quite young and I love this kind of stuff.
On April 1, 2009 at 7:57 am
Amazing news dear… Whatever the fact is, you brought us to know one more unknown fish kind
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