The coelacanth is a lobe-finned fish that was thought to be extinct for 100 million years until a living specimen was found in 1938. They are long-lived, deep-water fish that can suspend their metabolism and prey on various animals. They are considered an endangered species and are symbolic of ancient life.
The coelacanth is a lobe-finned fish, similar in shape to the ancestor of all land vertebrates. It was a coelacanth-like fish that originally developed legs and started walking on land 360 million years ago. Coelacanths were assumed to have been extinct for at least 100 million years, having only been found in the form of fossils, until a living specimen was found near the Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa in 1938, causing a stir. international. The word to describe a group that was presumed extinct but later discovered alive is “Lazarus taxon”.
The coelacanth is a large fish, weighing an average of 176 pounds (80 kg) and 6.5 feet (2 m) long. By examining their ear bones, scientists know that coelolocants are long-lived, with some living 80 to 100 years. There is an African species, which is deep blue to help it blend in, and an Indonesian species, which is brown. Coelacanths have extremely sensitive eyes and only come out at night to hunt. The rest of the day, they rest deeply in the water column, inhabiting depths of up to 2,300m underwater, although they usually stay at around 700-295m.
Coelacanths are opportunistic and flexible feeders, preying on snipe eels, cuttlefish, squid, small sharks, and other fish. Part of their evolutionary success comes from their ability to descend to pitch-black depths and suspend their metabolism at will, entering a sort of hibernation. The coelacanth is thought to have existed more or less in its present form for 100 million years. The coelacanth’s closest living relative is the Australian lungfish, which was previously the fish thought to be most closely related to the ancestor of all tetrapods.
Coelacanths are thought to be representatives of the oldest living lineage of jawed animals. The most primitive fish are thought to be extinct. Because of their prehistoric appearance and rarity, coelacanths are symbolic of ancient life. Only a few hundred have been caught and they are considered an endangered species.
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