![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Latimeria_Paris.jpg/640px-Latimeria_Paris.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Latimeria
Genus of lobe-finned fishes from the Indian Ocean / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Latimeria is a rare genus of fish which contains the only living species of coelacanth. It includes two extant species: the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (amphibians, reptiles and mammals) than to the common ray-finned fishes and cartilaginous fishes.
Latimeria | |
---|---|
![]() | |
West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae), Natural History Museum of Nantes | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
Class: | Actinistia |
Order: | Coelacanthiformes |
Family: | Latimeriidae |
Genus: | Latimeria Smith, 1939 |
Type species | |
Latimeria chalumnae | |
Species | |
| |
![]() | |
Range in red and violet | |
Synonyms[1] | |
|
They are found along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia.[2][3] Since there are only two known species of coelacanth and both are threatened, it is one of the most endangered genera of animals in the world. The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a critically endangered species.[4]