Coelacanth Identification Guide

Key identification features

• Large, robust body typically 5-6 feet long
• Deep steel-blue to grayish-blue coloration with irregular white or cream blotches unique to each individual, like a fingerprint
• Paired pectoral and pelvic fins set on fleshy, muscular lobes that move in an alternating, limb-like pattern
• Distinctive three-lobed tail with a small extra lobe extending between the upper and lower lobes
• Hinged joint in the skull that allows the front of the head to lift when feeding
• Large, thick, cosmoid-type scales

Common look-alikes

• Groupers: share a similarly bulky body and deep-water rocky habitat, but groupers have ordinary fan-shaped fins directly attached to the body, not fleshy lobed limbs, and lack the extra tail lobe.
• Large deep-sea basses: superficially bulky and dark-colored, but none combine lobed paired fins with a three-part tail the way a Coelacanth does.
• Other reef fish photographed at depth: the mottled white-spot pattern and limb-like fin movement are unmistakable once seen and rule out any other reef species.

Where you'll see one

Coelacanths live in deep rocky reef caves and canyon walls, typically 100-500 meters down, off the coasts of the Comoros Islands, South Africa, Mozambique, and Kenya, with a separate species found near Sulawesi, Indonesia. They are almost never seen without a submersible or deep-diving equipment, making sightings extremely rare.