Coelacanth, A Fossil that Lives

The Coelacanth is one of the most amazing fish that exists in our oceans today. Scientist though for a long time that the Coelacanth went extinct oh, so many millions of years ago…and then one day a Coelacanth was discovered, in 1938 to be more exact. It was shown that this fish not only lives in our oceans today but it is also alive and well. Just a little bit of a kick in evolutionists faces if you ask me.

The Coelacanth is a lobbed-finned fish that has fins supported by these fat stalks which are in their turn supported by bones. The scales of the Coelacanth are truly unique; they are of a type that up to date has only been found on extinct fish, which is great!

It is thought that some time during the history of the Coelacanth, the species as a whole suffered greatly and nearly went extinct but through some miracle survived and came back all these years later to prove once again that evolution is nothing more then a big hoax.

These days the weight that you will probably find the average Coelacanth is somewhere around 80 kilograms, they can also reach a length of up to 2 meters, real monsters if you ask me. Like it is found many times in the wild, the females are bigger then the males…never could figure out why God made creatures that way. Scientist have a way of telling how old the Coelacanth can live, it is a system based on the growth rings that can be found in the ear bones; based on these growth rings they believe that the Coelacanth can live up to 100 years old.

The Coelacanth lives at great depths in the ocean, usually at about 700 meters but they have been found in more shallow waters of around 90 meters. The Coelacanth can be found in this rich blue color that is very beautiful and there are also brown ones that can be found in small colonies along the rim of the Indian Ocean…this is a fish that will never get caught in the day time or on a night that has a bright full moon because of the fact that they have eyes that are very sensitive to light. Their eyes are very developed and very light sensitive to help them see in dark waters.

The Coelacanth will eat almost whatever come its way…it is known that this fish eats cuttlefish, squid, eels and even small sharks, the basic diet of the fish that lives deep down on volcanic slopes in the ocean. It is thought that this fish can slow down its metabolism at will and sink down into the depths of the sea and go into a form of hibernation…which might explain why they have managed to survive when other fish have not.

Coelacanths need to live in very cold water, 14 to 22 degrees Celsius, it is with the help of the cold water that they are able to get enough oxygen into their blood to survive, that is why so many times they live in deep water. It is basically because that water is nice and cold just like the Coelacanth needs…there are some places where you can find the Coelacanth in water that is only 55 meters deep…why? Because that water is a good and cold one.

The Coelacanth was soon put on the critically endangered list and all international trade has been made illegal…when it comes to commercial purposes that is. The Convention of International Trade of the Endangered Species treaty regulates all trade, even the sending of specimens to museums through this system requires special permits. It was in 1998 when they estimated that the Coelacanth population to be fewer then 500 and they predicted the extinction of the species, and yet here we are in 2008 and the Coelacanth is still doing well.

The Coelacanth will not lay eggs or anything like that, the female will give birth to live young…she will usually give birth from 5 to 25 pups at a time. These little guys are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves right after birth…although the scientist are not sure, it is thought that the Coelacanth is not sexually mature until after 20 years of age. That too can explain the low population numbers.