Latimeria chalumnae
Coelacanth
(Also: Gombessa; Latimeria; Old four legs)

Off the coast of South Africa from Madagascar southward.

Latimeria live in deep (apprx. 400m), cool(15-17 degrees centigrade), marine water. They generally inhabit lava beds.

Latimeria has a single, large, elongated, pseudo-lung filled with fat, a vertually linear heart, shark-like intestines with a spiral valve, and an axial skeleton composed only of a hollow tube of cartilage called a notocord. They possess hinges in their skulls that allow then to consume large prey. Latimeria also has a special electroreceptive device called a rosteral organ in the front of the skull . Their color ranges from brown to dark blue, but it is believed that no two fish have exactly the same pattern. They are particularly mucilaginous; not only do the scales exude mucus, but their bodies continually ooze a large quantity of oil.

Latimeria are ovoviparous; adults locate eachother for breeding with their electro-receptive rosteral organs.

Latimeria stands on its head, swims backwards and belly up to locate its prey with the rosteral gland. Scientists suspect that one reason Latimeria has been so successful is that they can slow down their metabolisms at any time, sinking into the less-inhabited depths and minimizing their nutritional requirements.

All that is known about the food habits of Latimeria is that they are carnivorous, feeding primarily on fish and squid. They have a rosteral organ in the front of their skulls that emits electromagnetic waves, used to detect prey.

We have no real estimate on the Latimeria population; enough of them have been caughtto suggest that there may be undiscovered populations in other locations in the Indian Ocean and perhaps elswhere.

Latimeria is a fish that had supposedly been extinct for over 60 million years. The most important aspect of its sensational discovery was that an early form related to Latimeria, Eustheonopteron, is believed to have been the ancestor of all modern amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.