Coelacanth

The coelacanth is a rare and ancient fish that lives in the deep sea.
It belongs to a group of lobe-finned fish that are more closely related to land animals than to other fish.
The coelacanth was thought to be extinct until 1938, when a living specimen was found off the coast of South Africa.

The coelacanth has two living species: the African coelacanth and the Indonesian coelacanth.
They have different habitats and distributions.
The African coelacanth is mainly found in the Indian Ocean near the coasts of southeastern Africa, Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands.
The Indonesian coelacanth lives in the waters near northern Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Both species of coelacanth prefer temperate waters that are neither too hot nor too cold.
They usually stay in underwater caves and crevices during the day, and swim to deeper waters at night.
They can be found at depths of around 200 meters.

• Paired lobe fins that extend away from its body like legs and move in an alternating pattern, like a trotting horse.

• A hinged joint in the skull which allows the fish to widen its mouth for large prey.

• An oil-filled tube, called a notochord, which serves as a backbone.

• Thick scales common only to extinct fish.

• An electrosensory rostral organ in its snout likely used to detect prey.