📷 Haplochromis · Public domain
📷 No machine-readable author provided. Bogdan assumed (based on copyright claims).
📷 Amelia Guo
IUCN: Critically Endangered
Coelacanth
Latimeria chalumnae
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassActinopterygii›OrderCoelacanthiformes›FamilyLatimeriidae›GenusLatimeria
About
The coelacanth was thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs until a living specimen was caught off South Africa in 1938, one of the great zoological surprises of the century. Its lobed, paddle-like fins move in an alternating gait unlike any other fish, and it gives birth to live young. It survives on deep volcanic slopes where cold upwelling water suits it; slow reproduction and accidental bycatch make it one of the rarest fish on Earth.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Deep volcanic slopes and canyons at 150–700 m off the Comoros and Sulawesi
🍃Diet Carnivore — fish, squid, and eels
📏Size & Weight Body up to 2 m
•weight Up to 110 kg
⏳Lifespan Possibly over 60 years
🗺Range Comoros Islands and South Africa; a second species, L. menadoensis, lives in Indonesia
FishLobe-finned Fish
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Deep volcanic slopes and canyons at 150–700 m off the Comoros and Sulawesi
🍃Diet Carnivore — fish, squid, and eels
📏Size & Weight Body up to 2 m
•weight Up to 110 kg
⏳Lifespan Possibly over 60 years
🗺Range Comoros Islands and South Africa; a second species, L. menadoensis, lives in Indonesia
Photo Credits
#1Haplochromis · Public domain
#2No machine-readable author provided. Bogdan assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0
#3Amelia Guo · CC BY 3.0
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