Coelacanth fish - A Dinosaur predator back from the dead.

Nature has its ways of surprising us time and again. A fossil fish named Coelacanth which predated dinosaurs and was believed to have become extinct has suddenly been found in the depths of the ocean. Coelacanths are large, plump, lobe-finned fish that can grow to more than 2 meters and can weigh around 90 kg. They are estimated to live for around 60 years or more. According to genetic analysis of current species, the divergence of coelacanths, lungfish, and tetrapods is thought to have occurred about 390 million years ago. Coelacanths were once thought to have become extinct 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The earliest identified coelacanth fossil, found in Australia, was of a jaw that dated back 360 million years, named Eoachtinistia for The fossil record is unique because coelacanth fossils were found 100 years before the first live specimen was identified.

The discovery has come as a shock to scientists who identified the fish as a member of the Latimeria chalumnae species with its eight fins, a large body, and a specific pattern on its scales. It has been discovered in the West Indian Ocean off the coast of Madagascar. The discovery was made by a group of South African shark hunters who ‘accidentally’ found this rare fish through their large-mesh gill-nets in deeper waters. The increasing demand for shark fins and oil has prompted hunters to fish in deeper waters, leading to the discovery of rare species on the coasts of South Africa, Tanzania, and the Comoros Islands. The first living coelacanth was caught in 1938 when a group of fishers set gill-nets off the southwest coast of Madagascar in deeper waters. A report by Mongabay, US-based non-profit conservation, and environmental science news platform, states that the deep-sea fish hunters were responsible for the appearances of the coelacanth over the decades.

The species is now listed as critically endangered and researchers worry that fishing with large gill nets or ‘Zarifa’s, as they are locally called, can threaten the survival of the coelacanths. The researchers now want to implement conservative measures to protect the fish. However, the fish might face new threats to survive with the increase in shark hunting in international waters. Experts have highlighted a need to look at sustainable conservation methods for the species, especially in the Madagascar area.

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