coelacanth

American

[see-luh-kanth] / ˈsi ləˌkænθ /

noun

a crossopterygian fish, Latimeria chalumnae, thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous Period but found in 1938 off the coast of southern Africa.

coelacanth British

/ ˈsiːləˌkænθ /

noun

a primitive marine bony fish of the genus Latimeria (subclass Crossopterygii ), having fleshy limblike pectoral fins and occurring off the coast of E Africa: thought to be extinct until a living specimen was discovered in 1938

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

coelacanth Scientific

/ sē′lə-kănth′ /

Any of various fishes of the group Coelacanthiformes or Actinistia, having lobed, fleshy fins. Coelacanths are crossopterygians, the ancient group of lobe-finned fishes that gave rise to land vertebrates. They were known only from Paleozoic and Mesozoic fossils until a living species (Latimeria chalumnae) was found in the Indian Ocean in 1938. A second Latimeria species was described in 1999.

Other Word Forms

coelacanthine adjective

Etymology

Origin of coelacanth

1605–15; < New Latin Coelacanthus originally a genus name, equivalent to coel- coel- + Greek -akanthos -spined, -thorned, adj. derivative of ákantha spine, thorn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Landing a generational quarterback is supposed to be near-impossible, like finding a coelacanth, a cool midsize rental car, or a Journal sports columnist who knows what he’s talking about.

From The Wall Street Journal

A deep-water fish called coelacanth similarly survived the mass extinction that wiped out all the dinosaurs that did not evolve into birds, he pointed out.

From Barron's

Its cameras have filmed rare footage of groups of coelacanths near Indonesia, and observed newly discovered brine pools in the Red Sea.

From Barron's

Most belong to an extinct family of coelacanths known as the Mawsoniidae, which are closely related to the modern species still living today.

From Science Daily

In 1859 Charles Darwin coined the term “living fossil” to describe lineages that have looked the same for tens of millions of years, such as the coelacanth, sturgeon, and horseshoe crab.

From Science Magazine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023