Latimeria

Genus of lobe-finned fishes from the Indian Ocean Latimeria West Indian Ocean coelacanth(L. chalumnae) Indonesian coelacanth(L. menadoensis) Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinistia Order: Coelacanthiformes Suborder: Latimerioidei Family: Latimeriidae Genus: LatimeriaSmith, 1939 Type species Latimeria chalumnae Species L. chalumnae Smith, 1939 L. menadoensis Pouyaud et al., 1999 Range in red and violet Synonyms Malania Smith, 1953 non Chun & Lee, 1980 Latimeria is a rare genus of fish which contains the two 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. They are found along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia. 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 worl