COELACANTH

Coelacanth (meaning "spines hollow", from the words Greek coelia, "κοιλιά" (hollow) and acanthos, "άκανθος" (thorn), referring to the spines of fins are hollow) IPA: [he ː lə ˌ kænθ] is the name of the order (nation) of fish among others, consists of an evolutionary branch of the oldest living jawed fish. Coelacanth is estimated to have gone extinct since the late Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, until a specimen was found in eastern South Africa, in the waters of the river Chalumna 1938. Since then it has been found in the Comoro Coelacanth, the waters of Manado Tua island of Sulawesi, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar and marine park St. Lucia in South Africa. In Indonesia, especially around Manado, North Sulawesi, this species by local people named the king of sea fish.

Coelacanth consists of approximately 120 known species based on fossil discoveries.

Living fossils

To date, there have been two species of living coelacanth was found that Comoro Coelacanth, Coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae and Sulawesi (Manado), Latimeria menadoensis.

Until 1938, a fish closely related to lung fish is considered to have been extinct since the late Cretaceous Period, about 65 million years ago. Until when a living coelacanth was caught by shark nets in advance Chalumna River estuary, South Africa in December of that year. Trawler captain who are interested in seeing these strange fish, send it to a museum in the city of East London, who was led by Ms.. Marjorie Courtney-Latimer. A iktiologis (fish expert) local, Dr. J.L.B. Smith was later to describe the fish and publish his article in the journal Nature in 1939. He gave the name Latimeria chalumnae to new types of fish, to commemorate the museum curator and the location of the discovery of the fish.

, In the presence of Ms.. Courtenay-Latimer, curator of the museum of East London.]] Search site where ancient fish that lived during the next dozen years and then get the Comoro Islands waters in the western Indian Ocean as a habitat, where several hundred individuals are estimated to live at ocean depths of more than 150 m. Beyond the islands, until the 1990s some individuals are also caught in the waters of Mozambique, Madagascar, and South Africa. But everything is still regarded as part of the population more or less the same.

In 1998, sixty years after the discovery of a living fossil coelacanths Comoro, a king of sea fish caught fishing nets in the waters of Manado Tua Island, North Sulawesi. This fish has long been known by local fishermen, but there has not been known to exist in the world of science. Sea King Fish Coelacanth Komoro physically similar, with differences in color. The king of the sea is brown, while the coelacanth Comoro blue steel.

King of the sea fish are then sent to an American researcher who lives in Manado, Mark Erdmann, along with two colleagues, RL Caldwell and Moh. Kasim Moosa of LIPI. This discovery was then published in the scientific journal Nature. So now people know that there is a second population of coelacanth, a separate cross the Indian Ocean and the islands in western Indonesia so far approximately 10,000 km. Later, based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA and isolation of populations, some researchers Indonesia and France propose ocean king fish as a new species Latimeria menadoensis.

Two years later was also found that a group of coelacanths living in the waters of Marine Protected Areas (Marine Protected Areas) St. Lucia in South Africa. People then realized that the possibility is still there coelacanth populations else in the world, including also in other parts of the archipelago, given that these fish live isolated in the depths of the sea, especially around volcanic islands. Until now, the taxonomic status of a new coelacanth is still debated.

In May 2007, an Indonesian fisherman caught a coelacanth off the coast of North Sulawesi Province. This fish has a size of 131 centimeters long, weighing 51 kg when captured.