The Coelocanth. The most famous "living fossil", the lobe-finned fish that lives in the sea (rather than muddy and prone to dehydration tropical fresh waters), and has accidentally been associated with South Africa's former racist government. They give birth to live young, which should provide a stumble for any wishing to apply the term "primitive" to these famous-but-poorly studied fish.Photo from here: http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=54
4 comments:
I flipped open my 2nd edition Fishes of the World, saw family Latimeriidae, and ran with it. Then I got the sneaking suspicion I'd featured this friday fish before; indeed I have, back in 2007.
Sorry.
Being the layperson that I am, my question to you is: is it edible? Because I do like fish, on Fridays and indeed any other day of the week.
Cool link! Not only did I learn how to pronounce the name of the fish, but now I also know that fish have snouts. Hannah pea brain, getting a little less stupid one post at a time! Cheers Martin!
I was lucky enough to see a coelocanth years ago in the freezer on a "backstage" tour of the San Francisco Academy of Sciences. I was surprised by how big it was.
Post a Comment