West Indian Ocean coelacanth

Latimeria chalumnae · The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a rare, ancient fish that lives in deep waters off South Africa, East Africa, the Comoros, and Madagascar.

Also called African coelacanth, Gombessa.

West Indian Ocean coelacanth
Photo: JaffaFalcon, CC BY-SA 4.0
West Indian Ocean coelacanth
Photo: Renegade at Dutch Wikipedia, Public domain
West Indian Ocean coelacanth
Photo: Jaffacity, CC0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassActinistia
OrderCoelacanthiformes
FamilyLatimeriidae
GenusLatimeria
SpeciesLatimeria chalumnae

Where it lives

Deep rocky slopes and caves off the Comoros, Mozambique, Tanzania and KwaZulu-Natal.

Fun facts

  • Some coelacanths do headstands to slurp prey out of crevices in underwater lava caves.
  • Coelacanths can move both their upper and lower jaw, a trait unique among living bony-skeleton vertebrates.
  • Female coelacanths can grow up to 2 meters long, and the heaviest one ever recorded weighed 95 kilograms.
  • A mirror-like layer behind their retinas helps coelacanths see better in the dark depths of the ocean.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).