You have a friend and you don’t see them for 65 million years or so. Now more than likely you’re going to assume they are no longer with us. And if you don’t see anyone who looks like them, you will probably think they and theirs have gone extinct. Then one day they are back. Meet the Coelacanth.
Coelacanths, (they’re considered a living fossil) are one of the links between fish and the first animals to crawl upon the Earth. As a result of this they have more in common with otters than with your average fish. Their fins more closely resemble legs and when a Coelacanth swims it's more like a dog walking than the propulsion of a normal fish. The Coelacanth also has a vestigial lung, a hollow oil saturated spine, a very small brain enclosed in fat and they even give live birth to their young. All of which would be exceptionally unique qualities if they were a modern-day fish. The Coelacanth can grow to be over 6 feet long and weigh over 200 pounds. If you were to encounter one in the water they can be intimidating, as they look pretty menacing. But not to worry, as they’re docile and live on a diet of fish and other denizens of the deep.
The Coelacanth first emerged around 400 million years ago during the geological period known as the Devonian. This was an important time for plants; with leaves, seeds and roots all occurring for the first time. Tetrapods (the Coelacanths were their ancestors) crawled across the landscape on limbs evolved from fins and the diversity of fish in the ocean blossomed exponentially. Ammonites appeared but by the end of Devonian the tried and true Trilobite had gone extinct.
So where did the Coelacanth go? Were they visiting relatives upstate? How can you disappear for 65 million years and not even write every once in a while? The answer is probably threefold. First we weren’t looking for them and secondly they live very deep in the ocean. They can often be found below 2,000 feet, although they can live a little closer to the surface but are still quite subterranean. Also they are nocturnal, and during the day they sleep in caves and so are seldom to be seen, even with a deep sea submarine. Finally they are only found off the coasts of East Africa near Madagascar and in Indonesia.
Now being so deep underwater means that their home is very gloomy, basically a perpetual night, but this suits the weak eyed Coelacanth just fine. And to aid the Coelacanth in their quest for food in this twilight world, they have a rostral organ in their snout. This anatomical feature is used to detect the weak electric fields emitting from other living things. The Coelacanth, having discovered his prey (they aren’t picky eaters) unhinges its’ jaw and swallows the victim whole. In the animal kingdom only they possess the ability to unhinge their jaws to swallow large prey. Etiquette is just not their thing.
Now it's great to have them return after so long a time but wouldn’t you know it, they’ve only been back a short time and are already endangered. With the possibility of going extinct for real this time. Deep net fishing trawlers, are the main culprit for now. The irony is the Coelacanth supposedly tastes terrible, and is only an unintended part of the nets’ haul. On the plus side that bad taste keeps them from being food for the larger dwellers of their world. Although like the Coelacanth, there are those who are definitely not picky eaters.
So let’s hope the Coelacanth, which has already been around for 400 million years, makes it another 400 million. And don’t think they're extinct just because you haven’t seen any around for a few million years.