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Scientists are currently examining a so-called “live fossil” which was discovered off the coast of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island. The creature, known as a coelacanth, weighs a whopping 110 lb. and was found trapped in the nets of an Indonesian fisherman a few days ago. These strange aquatic animals provide researchers with a rare glimpse of the past as they date back some 350 million years.

Coelacanths, themselves, are frightening creatures. They possess large lobed fins which can sometimes be mistaken for legs and their eyes are a fearsome phosphorescent green. They have been known to hover on their head in an attempt to catch prey lurking on the sea floor.

It had previously been thought that coelacanths only inhabited the waters surrounding the Comoros Islands, which are located in the Western Indian Ocean. This is only the second such animal to have been spotted in Asia in recent years. The first Asian coelacanth was also discovered off the coast of Indonesia in 1998. According to Peter Forey, a coelacanth expert at London’s Natural History Museum:

When the Indonesian coelacanth turned up in 1998, lots of people went out to look for more around this area, but nobody ever saw anything until now. The fact that another specimen has been found is significant; it confirms that this is a genuine location for another coelacanth’s population.

As it stands, scientists believe that Indonesian coelacanths bear small genetic differences to those known to live in the Western Indian Ocean. Genetic fingerprinting tests are currently being carried out to ascertain whether this coelacanth belongs to the species discovered in Indonesia in 1998.

It is likely, however, that these creatures will prove enigmatic to scientists for many years to come. As Peter Forey notes,

The fact that the (Indonesian and Indian Ocean coelacanth) populations are separated by this enormous gap of thousands of miles begs the question of how long ago and why they separated. Estimates from the genetic fingerprinting carried out on the fish caught in 1998 suggest that they separated about four to five million years ago, however, if you look at the geology of the oceans, it suggests that they should have separated about 30 million years ago.

Man, no doubt, has much more to learn before he will be able to fully understand these terrifying ocean creatures.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Science, Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.