#2384 · 🐟 fish
West Indian Ocean Coelacanth
🇳🇱 Gewone Coelacant ·Latimeria chalumnae
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © wrecklessmarine · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 2. © wrecklessmarine · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. © CORDENOS Thierry · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 5. © anonymous · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. © James St. John · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © Andrew Butko · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. © Sludge G · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 9. © Daniel Jolivet · CC BY 4.0
- 10. © CORDENOS Thierry · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The West Indian Ocean coelacanth ( Latimeria chalumnae ), sometimes known as the African coelacanth , or simply coelacanth , is one of two extant species of coelacanth, a rare order of vertebrates more closely related to lungfish, reptiles and mammals than to the common ray-finned fishes. It has a vivid blue pigment, and is the better known of the two extant species. The species has been assessed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 22 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by James Leonard Brierley Smith in 1939 (87 years ago).
- Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
fact sheet
- English
- West Indian Ocean Coelacanth
- Nederlands
- Gewone Coelacant
- scientific name
- Latimeria chalumnae
- class
- Sarcopterygii
- order
- Coelacanthiformes
- family
- Latimeriidae
- IUCN Red List
- CR · critically endangered
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 22
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1939 by James Leonard Brierley Smith
IUCN in Dutch: ernstig bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 104109, Wikidata Q668921, GBIF 2441273, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.