Latimeria
Sign in to saveLatimeria is a rare genus of fish which contains the two only living species of coelacanth. It includes two extant species: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles and mammals) than to the common ray-finned fishes and cartilaginous fishes.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassCoelacanthi
- OrderCoelacanthiformes
- FamilyLatimeriidae
Habitatmarine
via GBIF
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Description
- Anatomy and physiology
- Biology
- Reproduction
- Evolutionary relationships
- Genetics
- Distribution
- Discoveries
- First find in South Africa
- Comoros
- Second species in Indonesia
- iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa
- Tanzania
- Relation to humans
- Conservation
- In culture
- References
Latimeria is a rare genus of fish which contains the two only living species of coelacanth. It includes two extant species: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles and mammals) than to the common ray-finned fishes and cartilaginous fishes.
They are found along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia. Since there are only two known species of coelacanth and both are threatened, it is one of the most endangered genera of animals in the world. The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a critically endangered species.