Coelacanth: Species Currently

Species Currently, there are two extant species of coelacanths: the West Indian Ocean Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and the Indonesian Coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). The latter (Latimeria chalumnae) is considered by the IUCN to be critically endangered, with an estimated population size of 500 or fewer individuals. Coelacanths were thought to have been extinct for 70 million years until one was found alive in 1938. What on Earth? The unexpected capture of a living coelacanth in the 1930s was 'the most sensational natural history discovery' of the century. Coelacanth is any sarcopterygian fish of the subclass Coelacanthimorpha (Actinistia) and order Coelacanthiformes, characterized by a three-lobed, diphycercal caudal fin, external nostrils, and an anterior dorsal fin in front of the center of the body (Nelson 2004). While coelacanths are well recognized in the fossil record, there are only two living species, Latimeria chalumne and Latimeria menadoensis (Nelson 2006). Coelacanth, any of the two living lobe-finned bony fishes of the genus Latimeria. Order Coelacanthiformes, to which all coelacanths belong, was thought to have died out about 66 million years ago, until a coelacanth was caught in 1938.