UC Berkeley Researcher Announces Discovery of
Sulawesi Coelacanths!
1. Discovery of Second Population: (Use picture of Arnaz with coelacanth, also show
maps: Big map of Indopacific, show where Comoros is then inset N. Sulawesi ->
Indonesia -> tip of Manado where you can see island of Manado Tua. - I need line
drawings from you to give to graphic artist)
Until 1938, coelacanths were known only as an order of peculiar lobe-finned
fishes which appeared in the fossil record almost 400 million years ago and then seemed
to go extinct about 80 million years ago. So the discovery of a live coelacanth off the
coast of South Africa in 1938 was understandably met with great excitement. A
subsequent fourteen-year search for a second specimen of this extraordinary fish resulted
in the discovery of the "true" home of the living coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, in the
Comoran archipelago in the western Indian Ocean. Since that time about 200 specimens
of have been caught in the Comoros. Several other specimens have also been caught near
Madagascar and Mozambique, but genetic analyses have shown these to be simply
"strays" from the main population in the Comoros.
The scientific community was shocked again in 1998 when UC Berkeley
researcher, Dr. Mark Erdman, announced the discovery of a coelacanth in North
Sulawesi, Indonesia, almost 10,000 kilometers from the Comoros. Dr. Erdman first saw
a coelacanth in Indonesia in September 1997, while on his honeymoon with his wife,
Arnaz. Arriving at a fish market, Arnaz noticed a large, strange-looking fish being
wheeled by in a cart. Mark immediately recognized the fish as a coelacanth and
excitedly photographed it and briefly interviewed the fisherman. Unfortunately, they did
not purchase and preserve the coelacanth. Doubting that they could really have stumbled
upon such a major discovery, they concluded that coelacanths must have been found in
Indonesia previously. About a week later they found out that this was indeed an
important discovery after all.
Dr. Erdman returned to Sulawesi in November, 1997 in search of another
coelacanth. For several months, he interviewed over 200 fisherman in the coastal
villages around North Sulawesi, but few fisherman were familiar with the fish. Finally,
he interviewed two fisherman who said they occasionally caught the coelacanth, which
they called raja laut, translated as "king of the sea." After careful monitoring of their
catch for several months, Dr. Erdman was rewarded with a second Sulawesi coelacanth
on July 30, 1998. The second Sulawesi coelacanth was caught by Om Lameh Sonatham
in a deep-set shark gill net off of Manado Tua island in the Bunaken Marine Park. The
coelacanth was barely alive when it was delivered to Dr. Erdman. After they slightly
revived the animal by towing it behind their boat, they photographed it in shallow water.
When the injured fish eventually died it was frozen and later donated to the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences.
Dr. Erdman's announcement of the capture and preservation of a living coelacanth
almost 10,000 kilometers from the Comoros was featured in television, radio, and
newspaper articles around the world, including CNN, ABC news…..
links to these articles?
2. Why all the fuss (Use several pictures of coelacanths with arrows added to point out
features - include in captions data on average weight, length, etc.)
The fascination scientists and the general public have with coelacanths is likely
caused by both its unusual appearance and its evolutionary importance. A unique
combination of morphological features suggest that the coelacanth lineage is close to the
origin of the evolution of early terrestrial, four-legged animals (tetrapods) like
amphibians. The most remarkable of these features is the presence of seven lobed fins,
unique among the living fishes. The paired fins move in an alternating fashion which
resembles a horse in a slow trot. Other interesting features include a small secondary
"epicaudal" lobe on its tail, an oil-filled notochord instead of a backbone, and an
intercranial joint which is thought to allow them to widen their gape when capturing prey.
While their morphological features lead many scientists to believe the coelacanth lineage
was the direct link to tetrapods, recent molecular evidence suggests that lung fish might
be more closely related to tetrapods instead. Research in this area remains ongoing.
3. Conservation: (Use picture of fisherman pulling up nets)
The coelacanth population in the Comoros is estimated to be in the low hundreds.
So the discovery of a second coelacanth population is welcome news for those interested
in the conservation of this species. However, we know of only two confirmed
coelacanths in Indonesia, the honeymoon fish and the July 1998 fish. Therefore, the
population is probably quite small and its discovery should in no way lessen the
conservation efforts in the Comoros. Instead, we want to do everything possible to
conserve and protect both populations.
The people and government of Indonesia have been very quick to accept the
responsibility for conserving their coelacanth population. The Indonesian Institute of
Sciences have hosted several national meetings to discuss policy issues of further
coelacanth research and conservation with fishery, customs, and nature conservation
departments, and the Ministry of the Environment. In addition, national pride in the
coelacanth has grown thanks to numerous television and newspaper articles and there are
plans to distribute educational posters and brochures to schools and villages.
What is perhaps most striking about this discovery is that it occurred in an area
well-studied by scientists for over 100 years. This illustrates how little we know about
even relatively shallow, near shore marine environments…..I need an ending sentence
here but I'm not sure what it is yet - any ideas?
4 . Here are just a few of the many unanswered questions that remain about
coelacanths:
1. How big is the population in Sulawesi?
2. How long do they live?
3. How old are they when they start to reproduce?
4. How do they reproduce? Although we know females give live birth, there
appears to be no external male genitalia, so how does fertilization occur?
5. How often do they reproduce?
6. Where are the babies/juveniles? No one has ever found a juvenile coelacanth,
so their habitat or behavior may be different than the adults.
7. How do they use their electrical organ?
8. Do they have predators? If so, who are they?
9. Are the coelacanths in Indonesia the same species found in the Comoros?
- This is question is currently under investigation, check back later for
more information.
5. Acknowledgements of people who have helped Aided by funding from the National
Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society - anyone else??
6. Tissue samples requested - What do you want to go in this section? Do you have
numbers I can use for this?