This sea creature was thought to be extinct for 65 million years before it was rediscovered in 1938. Ancient and rare, the coelacanth is a fish so named from its fossil. Scientists knew this fish once existed but never expected to find it alive in the depths of the ocean. The coelacanth (pronounced seel-a-canth) is about 200 pounds and can grow to over 6.5 feet in length. Two species exist today – the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis) and the African coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae).
Anatomy
Coelacanth is derived from Latin and means “hollow spine” due to their hollow caudal fin rays. They have thick scales giving them an ancient appearance.These fish lack boney vertebrae. Instead, they have a notochord which is a fluid-filled rod beneath the spinal cord. Coelacanths also use a rostral organ to detect the electrical impulses of nearby prey much like stingrays and sharks. Most distinctive is the coelacanth’s limb-like pectoral fins that appear more like an arm than a fin. The coelacanth has a very unique anatomy. No other fish on Earth possesses these special features.
The next discovery of a live coelacanth came in 1952 – 14 years after the first revelation. But why did it take so long for another fish to be caught? Coelacanths live at great very deep depths, often over 500 feet beneath the surface of the ocean. When they venture into shallower waters, they tend to do so at night. Coelacanths are nocturnal predators.They hide under rock formations and in caves until nightfall when they emerge to hunt other fish, crabs, eels, and squid.They use their hinged skull which enlarges their gape to swallow prey.
Population
The IUCN has listed the coelacanth as critically endangered. It is estimated that only 500 coelacanths exist today. Although not considered an edible fish, as its meat is too oily for consumption, the coelacanth still falls prey to deep-sea fishing nets. If caught as by-catch, coelacanths can die from the stress. These threats can deeply affect the population because coelacanths have an unusually long gestation period of three years – the longest of any vertebrate species. Such factors make coelacanths extremely vulnerable to extinction.
The story of the coelacanth proves there is always more to discover. Biodiversity fosters a sense of curiosity about the endless possibilities of the natural world.
I wonder, if a creature like this still exists, what other species remain unknown to humanity?
Swimming away for now, Joely
Joely Hart is a wildlife enthusiast writing to inspire curiosity about Earth’s creatures. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Central Florida and has a special interest in obscure, lesser-known species.
Besides celebrating all fascinating creatures all over the globe, we are working to educate and shape communities around the regeneration of our planet. Check out some of our highlights below.
News and Insights
Nestled outside the hustle and bustle of Downtown Los Angeles, a miniforest offers a green space and hefty contributions to local biodiversity. Photo Credit: Demian Willette/Loyola Marymount University
As leaders in the East Coast Miyawaki forest revolution, we are excited to see coverage of this miniforest outside Los Angeles go mainstream on NPR. Learn how scientist use spider webs to track biodiversity and how park visitors become part of the citizen science team to measure plant growth.
NPR’s Short Wave dives into California’s largest miniforest, located in Ascot Hills Park. After just two years, scientists have noted significant increases in biodiversity and impressive growth of plants that tend to grow more slowly on their own, outside of miniforests.
From decreasing the likelihood of weeds growing through crowding to mapping the types of creatures that frequent the forest through spiderwebs, this miniforest is teeming with life and helping scientists define the benefits of miniforests.
In coastal cities, traditional approaches to preparing coastlines for rising sea levels can actually intensify the process of erosion rather than preventing it. Instead of employing these more traditional (yet ineffective) “solutions,” Boston, Massachusetts has introduced nature-based solutions to protect their coastline.
“[Nature-based solutions] offer a wealth of community and environmental benefits by enhancing the natural services provided by coastal ecosystems—including wetlands, dunes, barrier islands, seagrasses, coral and oyster reefs, and mangroves—that build climate resilience while providing key social and economic benefits.”
We’re excited to share the next two speakers in our upcoming course, How Trees & Forests Shape Our Climate, offering a powerful sequence from permaculture to strategic communication on the science demonstrating the critical importance of our forests.
We will be joined by Michael Pilarski, founder of Friends of the Trees and the Global Earth Repair Convergence. Drawing on decades of experience as an instructor and a writer in permaculture design, Michael will groundthe course in lived ecological practice. He will teach us how to apply permaculture principles to land and forest restoration and stewardship.Sonia Demiray, founder and Executive Director of the Climate Communications Coalition, will join us to share the up-to-date science and objective data that should be guiding our forest management decisions. Her organization’s “Keep It In The Forest” campaign shows us how to combat the disinformation around forestry in the U.S. in order to protect our remaining native forests and sustain a livable biosphere.
Register by January 17 to receive the lowest rate! Group rates, reduced rates, and scholarships are available. Email courses@bio4climate.org for more information.
The Bio4Climate Film Club Presents Thinking Like Water January 20 – February 17 Tuesdays | 7:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm MT
Want to learn how to restore the watershed and landscape in your community? Join our upcoming live conversation series and film screening ofThinking Like Water with filmmaker Renea Roberts and facilitator Dr. Katie Ross.
This five-part docuseries captures Bill Zeedyk, a legendary and visionary water steward, as he applies simple, nature-based restoration methods across the American Southwest. Over five weeks, you’ll see the inspiring impact of Native nations, ranchers, non-profits and communities collaborating with Bill to transform parched watersheds into lush, green, thriving landscapes.
Legendary urban desert water steward Brad Lancaster will join us on February 10 at 7:00 pm ET to share the innovative rainwater harvesting and water management strategies he demonstrates in the fourth episode, which he boldly implemented in his desert city of Tucson, Arizona. He’ll answer questions on how to “start where you are” to turn water scarcity into abundance.
If you have a willingness to get your hands dirty and a keen eye for observation, you can do similar work — this film shows you how it’s done. Join us for Thinking Like Water.
Registration is now open! Reduced rates and scholarships are available. Email films@bio4climate.org for more information.
The last session of the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit, “The Miyawaki Method vs. Ecology of Place: Experimentation & Curiosity in Canada’s Miniforest Network,” explored many interconnected themes—how planting a miniforest is fundamentally different from planting trees; what is negotiable and non-negotiable within the Miyawaki method; Canada’s growing network of miniforests and its evolving community of practice; and Heather’s four-year-old backyard miniforest in Guelph, Ontario.
Rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach, Heather highlighted the importance of experimentation, curiosity, and responsive adaptation to local ecological conditions. While the Miyawaki method offers step-by-step guidelines, Heather encouraged practitioners to honor the unique ecology of each site and shared lessons grounded in her hands-on experimentation and experience with the method. Through her examples, she opened space to consider climate-informed design and, where appropriate, assisted migration—not as a way to replicate the past, but to support miniforests as they adapt to changing environmental conditions.
This session leaves us with a few reflections to sit with:
What does it mean to truly design with the ecology of a place—its soils, plant communities, and future climate—rather than applying a fixed method or template?
What role should climate forecasts and assisted migration play in restoring ecosystems for future conditions, not just reconstructing the past?
How might curiosity, adaptation, and continual learning from ecological processes reshape not only how we implement and steward miniforests, but how we understand responsibility, stewardship, and our place within the web of life?
We hope this reflection deepens your own thinking as well, and marks not an ending, but a continuation of shared learning, practice, and relationship-building across this growing Northeast community and beyond.
”Becoming Earth is the story of how Earth’s inhabitants from microbes to trees have made this rock into the living planet we know today! I read this book with many others here at Bio4Climate last winter as the main dish to Jim Laurie’s Biodiversity #12 course, and I still find myself referencing it whenever I’m talking about the life that sustains us.
Starting from the ground up, you’ll travel deep through the Earth where there’s microbes that eat metal. Step in elephant tracks that become living ponds. And watch the author as they bring back life to their desolate suburban lot. From there you’ll swim through clouds of plankton, forests of kelp, and hordes of plastic! As you catch your breath with some air microbes made, you’ll see the rekindling of indigenous fires on the landscape, and look towards a new sustainable future.
If there’s one thing you’ll take-away, it’s that: ‘We and other living creatures are more than inhabitants of earth; we are earth – an outgrowth of its physical structure and an engine of its global cycles. Earth and its creatures are so closely intertwined that we can think of them as one.’ Page: xiv” – Jonas Davulis
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