By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG,
South Africa (Reuters) - A population of ''living fossils'' unexpectedly
discovered off South Africa's coast late last year may soon be
studied up close and cataloged with the help of a small submersible
craft.
For a fish
thought to have died out 70 million years ago, the Coelacanth
has been doing remarkably well.
The first
specimen, caught off South Africa by a trawler in 1938, was considered
by many to be the zoological find of the century, but more have
since been reported. The most recent find was made by divers four
months ago.
``We are tentatively
looking at March or April and hope to have two to three weeks
of diving with the craft to begin studying the South African coelacanths,''
said biologist Philip Heemstra with the JLB Smith Institute of
Ichthyology.
``Our preliminary
budget is one million rand ($130,000) and that should give us
two to three weeks of diving. I'm trying to raise it through corporate
sponsors,'' he told Reuters, adding that if it was not possible
this year he hoped to have the cash lined up in 2002.
Fossil records
show the coelacanth -- dubbed ``old four legs'' because of its
extra fins -- has been swimming the seas for as long as 400 million
years. In the 1950s, specimens were found near the Comoro Islands
off Africa's southeast coast, leading scientists to speculate
that those netted off South Africa had drifted far from home.
The fish are
found only at depths of 100 yards or more below the surface and
are nocturnal, hiding in caves by day, which made it all but impossible
to observe them in their natural habitat.
A German expedition
in 1987 finally observed live coelacanths for the first time from
a submersible craft off the Comoro Islands. A new population came
to light in Indonesia 10 years later when an American marine biologist
came across one in a fish market.
But living
specimens off South Africa, which has long considered itself to
be the ``home'' of old four legs because of the 1938 catch, remained
elusive until the discovery in October by deep-water technical
divers off Sodwana Bay on the country's stunningly beautiful northeastern
coast.
First Coelacanths
Seen And Filmed By Scuba Divers
The October
sighting of three coelacanths -- the first ever by scuba divers
-- led to a November expedition that resulted in three of the
fish, ranging in length from three to six feet, being caught on
film at a depth of 380 feet.
The expedition
was marred by tragedy as one member of the team died after surfacing
without proper decompression.
The footage
showed the fish on the edge of a canyon in their classic vertical
position, seeming to stand on their heads.
``There is
an organ in the coelacanth's snout called the rostral organ, which
we believe is electroreceptive,'' Heemstra said. ``We believe
they may use it to scan the bottom for prey. Each coelacanth has
a unique pattern of white markings. ... This way we can get an
estimate of the size of the population.''
This is important
as South Africa's coelacanths may simply number a few, which could
suggest they may simply have strayed down the Mozambique Channel
from their home waters.
``I would
like to know how many there are in South African waters and to
establish if there is a viable population or not. The individuals
sighted may be drifters from the Comoro Islands,'' Hans Fricke,
a German scientist who will lead the submersible expedition, told
Reuters.
Fricke, who
has had a lifelong passion for the fish, has been to the Comoros
with his submersible several times and has identified and cataloged
109 adult coelacanths there.
``We believe
there are 200 to 300 adults off Grand Comore and a few more have
been sighted off Anjouan,'' he said by telephone from the Seewiesen
Research Institute south of Munich.
Curiously,
juveniles have never been sighted and Fricke admits he has no
idea why. Perhaps they are only found at depths his minisub cannot
reach -- it only goes to 1,30 feet -- or perhaps they spend their
time at an unknown location elsewhere.
Fricke said
he has his fingers crossed regarding South Africa's population.
``I really hope South Africa has a sustainable population of coelacanths
because then the story goes full circle and comes back to South
Africa.''
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