coelacanth

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See also: cœlacanth

English

Latimeria chalumnae

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the New Latin genus name Coelacanthus, from Ancient Greek κοῖλος (koîlos, “hollow”) + ἄκανθα (ákantha, “spine”), referring to the hollow caudal fin rays of the first fossil specimen described and named by Louis Agassiz in 1839.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsiː.lə.kænθ/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

coelacanth (plural coelacanths)

  1. Any of the class Actinistia of primitive lobe-finned fish, thought to have been extinct for 70 million years until a living specimen was discovered in 1938. Most species are large and plump and they all have bodies covered in tough elasmoid scales that act as armor.
    • 2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 32:
      Among them were ancient relatives of the piranhas and those popular aquarium fish the tetras, along with garfish and freshwater coelacanths, known as mawsonids.
    1. (in particular) Either of the two extant species in this group; the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) or the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis).
      Synonym: gombessa

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked‌: "any lobe-finned fish in the order Coelacanthiformes"

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “coelacanth”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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