Coelacanth  (Latimeria chalumnae)

Range

Fossil coelacanths have been found in all continents with the exception of Antarctica (7), but the distribution of this particular species is unclear. The first living specimen was discovered in 1938 off the coast of South Africa but until recently the only known population was located in the Comoro Islands, a small archipelago in the Mozambique Channel (4). Since then however, coelacanths have been observed off the northeast coast of South Africa in Sodwana Bay, as well as off Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania (4). Individuals caught in Indonesian waters are currently considered a distinct species (Latimeria menadoensis) and are brown in colour.

View a distribution map for this species at UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Habitat

Inhabits ocean waters ranging from 150 to 700 metres deep, where there are submarine caverns (2), deep reefs and volcanic slopes (4), but the coelacanth has also been tracked at depths of just 17 metres (8).

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