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The coelacanth is an amazing creature full of mystery and exciting discoveries. It was once thought

to be extinct for more than360 milllion years ago until one was caught in1938.Its scientific name is Latimeria

chalumnae .An adult coelacanth can grow at least to 180 cm in length and weigh 98 kg and each fish has

a distinctive pattern of pinkish white blotches that enables scientists to separate one individual from another.

The coelacanth has several very recognizable anatomical features.The skull is in two parts with an intra

cranial joint which lets it go an up and down movement between them. A strong pair of muscles beneath the

skull-base lowers the front half of the skull, giving the coelacanth a powerful bite .The eyes and olfactory

organs are in the front part of the skull, and tiny brain and inner ear are in the rear.In the middle of the

snout is a large pit filled with a jelly-like sac that opens to the outside through three pores.This sac is called

the rostral organ .It may be used to detect weak electric currents and help the coelacanth to find hidden

prey.

The fins

Coelacanths belong to a group of bony lobe-finned fishes and have 8 fins (2 dorsals, 2 pectorals, 2 pelvics, 1

anal and 1 caudal). The first dorsal fin of the coelacanth is much like that of other fishes and can be folded

down or erected. The other fins have a well-developed, muscular, limb-like basal lobe projecting from the body

wall, and a fringe of unbranched rays like a fan attached to the outer end of the base. The fleshy scale -

covered lobe can be bent or rotated so that each fin can work like a paddle or sculling oar. The tailhas three

divisions: a characteristic small projecting middle lobe between the longer upper and lower lobes of the fin.

The skeleton

Most of the skeleton is made of cartilage. In place of the vertebral column, a large notochord extends from

the skull to the tip of the caudal fin. The notochord is a thick-walled cartilaginous tube filled with oil-like fluid

which is under slight pressure; it is tough and elastic and does the job of a backbone, since no complete

vertebrae are developed around it.

The scales

The body is covered with hard scales with small toothy-like growths called denticles on the outer surface which

protect the coelacanth from the rocks and predators.

The swimbladder

Unlike most fishes which have a gas-filled swimbladder, the coelacanth has a large swimbladder that is filled

with fat. Being lighter than the seawater, the fat provides buoyancy.

Where the coelacanth lives

The coelacanth is to be recorded from the shore of the African mainland. Until recently all other specimens

have been taken at Grand Comoro and Anjouan Island in the Comoro Islands. The East London fish was

probably helped on its 2000 km journey by the strong southwesterly currents of the Mozambique Channel.

The coelacanth is also likely to be stray from the Comoran population.

Feeding habitats

Evidence from the prey found in the stomachs of coelacanths indicates that they are predominantly fish-

eaters taking lanternfish (Diaphus), cardinal fish (Coranthus) eels (Iiyophis), beardfish (Polymixia), red

breams, skates, sharks and also squid and octopus. The vertical head-down position has been found in other

drift-feeding fishes. When the coelacanth is close enough to the prey, the mouth is quickly opened, the prey

grasped very quickly by powerful jaws and then swallowed whole.Some scientist have observed some large

sharks in the habitat of the coelacanths and it is likely that large sharks may prey on the coelacanths.

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