coelacanth

American  

[see-luh-kanth] / ˈsi ləˌkænθ /

noun

1. a crossopterygian fish, Latimeria chalumnae, thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous Period but found in 1938 off the coast of southern Africa.

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coelacanth British  

/ ˈsiːləˌkænθ /

noun

1. a primitive marine bony fish of the genus Latimeria (subclass Crossopterygii ), having fleshy limblike pectoral fins and occurring off the coast of E Africa: thought to be extinct until a living specimen was discovered in 1938

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coelacanth Scientific  

/ sē′lə-kănth′ /

1. Any of various fishes of the group Coelacanthiformes or Actinistia, having lobed, fleshy fins. Coelacanths are crossopterygians, the ancient group of lobe-finned fishes that gave rise to land vertebrates. They were known only from Paleozoic and Mesozoic fossils until a living species (Latimeria chalumnae) was found in the Indian Ocean in 1938. A second Latimeria species was described in 1999.

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Other Word Forms

• coelacanthine
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of coelacanth

1605–15; < New Latin Coelacanthus originally a genus name, equivalent to coel- coel- + Greek -akanthos -spined, -thorned, adj. derivative of ákantha spine, thorn

Example Sentences

Ben Moor's huggable storytelling show, Coelacanth, is at the Tobacco Factory for three nights from next Thursday 21 June.

From The Guardian • Jun. 15, 2012

The family has been considered extinct for 50,000,000 years because that is the most recent date assigned to any Coelacanth fossil found in the rocks.

From Time Magazine Archive

Thus the discovery of a live Coelacanth in the world of airplanes and television is as surprising, from an anatomical and evolutionary point of view, as would be that of a pterodactyl or diplodocus.

From Time Magazine Archive

Coelacanth fishes from the continental Triassic of the western United States.

From A New Genus of Pennsylvania Fish (Crossoperygii, Coelacanthiformes) from Kansas by Echols, Joan