Indonesian Coelacanth
“ Your honeymoon tells the world--and maybe you--who you are. ”
– Ginger Strand
Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subclass: Actinistia
Order: Coelacanthiformes
Family: Latimeriidae
Genius: Latimeria
Species: Latimeria menadonensis
Descendant: Coelacanths
Named by: Pouyaud, Wirjoatmodjo, Rachmatika, Tjakrawidjaja, Hadiaty & Hadie
Year Published: 1999
Size: 1.4 meters long in length; 80 kg (176 lb) in weight
Lifespan: 60+ years
Type: Bony Fishes (Coelacanth)
Title:
First Living Fossil
King of the Sea
Raja Laut
Raja ti baybay
Pantheon:
Terran/Gaian
Indonesian
Time Period: Pleistocene to Holocene
Alignment: Good
Threat Level: ★★
Diet: Carnivorous 🥩🐟🥓🦀
Elements: Water
Inflicts: Diarrhea, nausea
Weaknesses: Fire, electric, leaf, sound
Casualties: ???
Based On: itself
Conservation Status: Vulnerable (VU) - IUCN Red List
Indonesian Coelacanth (Latimeria menadonensis) is one of two living species of coelacanth, identifiable by its brown color, while gombessa of Africa is blue. Separate populations of the Indonesian coelacanth are found in the waters of north Sulawesi as well as Papua and West Papua.
Etymology
The Indonesian coelacanth, known locally as raja laut ("king of the sea"), due to older appearance than modern fishes. It was given the name Latimeria after Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a South African museum official curator at East London's small museum.
Physical Appearance
Indonesian Coelacanth’s background coloration of the skin is brownish-gray rather than bluish; it has light brown fins and brown eyes, with less sharp teeth than Comorian Coelacanth. But this color is lost when the fish is caught and turns into chocolatey-like dark brown to gray scales.
Abilities
Some have been observed engaging in "headstands" as a means of feeding, which enables coelacanths to slurp food from cracks. The coelacanth's capacity to move both its upper and lower jaws—a characteristic not found in other extant vertebrates with bone skeletons—makes this behavior conceivable. Because it contains difficult-to-digest substances like urea, oil, and wax, coelacanth meat is really harmful to humans. Diarrhea could result from this.
Ecology
As opportunistic feeders, coelacanths hunt a variety of fish in their deep reef and volcano slope habitats, including cuttlefish, squid, snipe eels, and small sharks. In order to find their prey, coelacanths have also been observed to swim head down, backwards, or belly up, most likely with the help of their rostral glands. Although coelacanths have never been actually seen being eaten by a predator, it has been hypothesized that orcas and sharks occasionally ingest them.
This research suggests the coelacanth must stay in cold, well-oxygenated water, or else its blood cannot absorb enough oxygen. Female coelacanths give birth to live young, called "pups," in groups of between five and 25 fry at a time; the pups are capable of surviving on their own immediately after birth. Their reproductive behaviors are not well known, but it is believed that they are not sexually mature until after 20 years of age. It was thought that gestation time was 13 to 15 months.
Behavior
Simply put, coelacanths are generic fish. They are harmless and will swim around idly until provoked. They'll try to swim away at that point. More than a dozen coelacanths may live in the same cave, yet they don't appear to be antagonistic to one another.
Distribution and Habitat
This fish is found in the waters of Manado Tua and the Talise islands off north Sulawesi as well as in the waters of Biak in Papua.
Movement Pattern: Not a Migrant
Individual Type: Solo
Population Trend: Unknown
Population: ???
Locomotion: Aquatic
Habitat: All
Earth: Indonesia (West Papua; Sulawesi)
Tamed
Coelacanth can be 'tamed' using Fish Trapper. While they can level, they do eat from the feeder.
Lore
First Discovering of Coelacanth
As he frequently did, he telephoned his friend, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, curator at East London Museum, to see if she wanted to look over the contents of the catch for anything interesting, and told her of the strange fish he had set aside for her. These two fishes are named after her who discovered the first specimen, Latimeria.
Honeymoon Discovered - September 18, 1997
On September 18, 1997, Arnaz and Mark Erdmann, traveling in Indonesia on their honeymoon, saw a strange fish in a market at Manado Tua, on the island of Sulawesi. Mark Erdmann thought it was a gombessa (Comoro coelacanth), although it was brown, not blue. This only known coelacanth and an animal discovered by a honeymoon date. Many theories about the two coelacanth species originate from the Indo-Pacific, possible to existence in Papua New Guinea and possibly Mindanao to the all coasts of African countries during Pliocene to Pleistocene epochs.
Foreign Languages
Indonesian: Raja Laut Manado
Korean: 인도네시아실러캔스
Estonia: Sulawesi latimeeria
French: Cœlacanthe de Manado
Spanish: Celacanto de Indonesia
German: Manado-Quastenflosser
Afrikaans: Gombessa Manado
English: Sulawesi coelacanth, Indonesian coelacanth
Trivia
Coming soon