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Latimeria chalumnae

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA CHORDATA SARCOPTERYGII COELACANTHIFORMES LATIMERIIDAE

Scientific Name: Latimeria chalumnae
Species Authority: Smith, 1939
Common Name/s:
English – Coelacanth, Gombessa
French – Coelacanthe
Spanish – Celecanto

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Critically Endangered   A2cd, C2b   ver 2.3
Year Published: 2000
Assessor/s: Musick, J.A.
Reviewer/s:
History:
1996 – Endangered
1994 – Vulnerable (Groombridge 1994)
1990 – Vulnerable (IUCN 1990)
1988 – Insufficiently Known (IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre 1988)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: Known as the "living fossil", this species occurs in the Indo-West Pacific in the vicinity of the Grand Comoro and Anjouan islands, the coast of South Africa, Madagascar, and Mozambique.
Countries:
Native:
Comoros; Indonesia
Regionally extinct:
South Africa
FAO Marine Fishing Areas:
Native:
Atlantic – southeast;  Indian Ocean – western
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: L. chalumnae is a nocturnal hunter, sheltering within caves throughout the day and foraging at night on squid and other fish species.
Systems: Marine

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: It is listed on CITES Appendix I

Bibliography [top]

Baillie, J. and Groombridge, B. 1996. 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland.

Bruton, M.N. 1995. Threatened fishes of the world: Latimeria chalumnae Smith, 1939 (Latimeridae). Environmental Biology of Fishes 43: 104.

Froese R. and Palomares M.L.D. 2000. Growth, natural mortality,length-weight relationship, maximum length and length at first maturity of the coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae. Environmental Biology of Fishes 58:45-52.

Groombridge, B. (ed.). 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Hilton-Taylor, C. 2000. 2000 IUCN red list of threatened species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Hilton-Taylor, C. 2000. 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Hissman K., Fricke, H. and Schauer, J. 1998. Population monitoring of the coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae). Conservation Biology 12(4): 759-765.

IUCN. 1990. 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1988. 1988 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Plante, R., Fricke H. and Hissmann K. 1998. Coelacanth population,conservation and fishery activity at Grande Comore,West Indian Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series 166:231-236.
Citation: Musick, J.A. 2000. Latimeria chalumnae. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 23 May 2012.
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