According to a new study, a living fossil fish live for an impressively long time, as it can live up to a century. The coelacanth was thought to have a life span of 20 years, but new estimates suggest it is the centenarian of the ocean, with sharks. French researchers studied marks on the Specimens like- trunks, and rings tell the age of trees in the scale of the museum.
The researcher believes the fish reproduce only in the late middle age and can be pregnant for 5 years. Slow-growing fish reproduce few young are particularly vulnerable to extinction, due to climate change and overfishing. Dr. Bruno Ernande of the University of Montpellier, France- said, knowing the coelacanth’s life history may help to enforce stronger protection and conservation measures. One very important framework for conservation measures can access the demography of the species, with this information the researcher will be able to assess it.
The animal was believed to be extinct until turning up in a fishing net in South Africa in 1938. Their population was found in 2 types- one is the eastern coast of Africa and the second one is Sulawesi, Indonesia. The African population is critically endangered with only a few hundred individual to be left. Kelig Mahe of the north sea fisheries Research unit in France said that – the Coelacanth appears to have one of its slowest, life historians among marine fish, deep-sea sharks, and roughies. Results thus suggest that it can be more threatened than expected due to its peculiar life history.
These new pieces of information on Coelacanth’s biology and life history are for preserving and management of this species. The scientists are also studying coelacanth scales to find out whether growth is related to temperature. The answer may provide some insights into the effects of climate change on the species. The ancestors of the coelacanth evolved 420 million years ago, surviving the shifting of continents and the asteroid strikes that wiped out dinosaurs and other species. This species can grow up to 1.8m (6ft) and can weigh more than 90kg.
