A new species of coelacanth

Une nouvelle espèce de coelacanthe. Preuves génétiques et morphologiques

A new species of coelacanth

Laurent Pouyaud ^a*^{, b}, Soetikno Wirjoatmodjo^c, Ike Rachmatika^c, Agus Tjakrawidjaja^c, Renny Hadiaty^c, Wartono Hadie^d

^a Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD-Orstom), Wisma Anugraha, Jalan Taman Kemang 32B, Jakarta 12730, Indonésie

^b Laboratoire génome et population (CNRS), UPR 9060, 34000 Montpellier, France

^c Division of Zoology, Research and Development Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Cibinong, Indonésie

^d Research Institute of Freshwater Fisheries (RIFF), Jakarta, Indonésie

(Reçu le 24 février 1999, accepté le 8 mars 1999)

Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences - Série III - Sciences de la vie / Life Sciences - 1999, 322, 261-267.

Abstract — To test the assumption of the existence of a possible new population of coelacanth in Indonesia, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA from cytochrome b and 12S rDNA genes, and described the morphological features of the specimen discovered on July 1998. Significant differences in base sequences revealed that the Comorean and the Indonesian coelacanth belong to distinct populations. Estimation of divergence time, high transition—transversion ratios, preponderance of third position silent substitution, strong morphological differentiation and geographical isolation led us to consider that the Indonesian coelacanth is a new species, Latimeria menadoensis n. sp., closely related to L. chalumnae. (© Académie des sciences / Elsevier, Paris.)

Abridged version

On July 1998, the arrival of a lost relative was registered for the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae Smith. This discovery of an Indonesian population of coelacanth, almost 10 000 km from the known population in the Comoros immediately raised new taxonomic, biogeographic and conservation implications.

To test the assumption of the existence of a possible new population, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA from cytochrome b and 12S rDNA genes, and described morphological features of the Indonesian specimen. Our data were then compared with those available from specimens of the Comorean population.

Percentage differences in base sequences are 4.85 % for the 845 base pairs of the partial cytochrome b gene (transition— transversion 13 :1) and 2.85 % for the 984 base pairs of the total 12S rDNA gene (transition—transversion 2.4 :1).

Previous molecular analysis conducted both from the most evolving part of the control region and multilocus DNA fingerprints of 16 individuals of the Comoros and one of Mozambique revealed a low genetic variability comparable to that observed on consanguine stocks of laboratory fish. It enforced ecological observations arguing that the breeding stock at Grand Comoro has a very narrow habitat range with a small relict population. These results strongly suggest that the Comorean and the Indonesian coelacanths belong to distinct populations. Nevertheless, the high transition—transversion ratios and the preponderance of third position silent substitutions (76 %) observed is typical for comparisons between closely related species or between populations within species.

Morphometrical comparison carried out between both populations showed strong differentiation. Sixty-three per cent of the measurements assessed on the Indonesian specimen are excluded from the range of corresponding values described on five individuals of L. chalumnae. The Indonesian specimen is characterised by a shorter head length (23 % SL versus 24—26 % SL); shorter predorsal length (38 % SL versus 40 % SL for PD₁ ; 60 % SL versus 63—65 % SL for PD₂); a slender body depth (20 % SL versus 27 % SL); a caudal peduncle longer (31 % SL versus 26—28 % SL); a longer caudal fin (16 % SL versus 15 % SL). Concerning meristic counts, the Indonesian coelacanth is characterised by a greater number of rays on the second dorsal fin (27 versus 29-31), on the ventral caudal lobe (24 versus 21—22) and on the supplementary caudal lobe (30 versus 25—26).

Many parameters, such as the genetic and morphological differentiation, the evidence of geographical isolation from the vast distance between cryptic populations, the dynamics of the current distribution coupled with the discontinuity of the habitat and the existence of a distinct coloration pattern, lead us to consider that the Indonesian coelacanth is a new species. We propose to name this species Latimeria menadoensis, referring to its sampling location. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that this species is closely related to L. chalumnae. Referring to an abundant literature concerning approximate molecular clock/evolutionary time calibrations, we are able to give an estimation of the time divergence between the two populations of coelacanth. Two different rates of sequence divergence were used for the 12S rDNA (1 % of nucleotidic substitution per million years) and for the cytochrome b (2 % of nucleotidic substitution per million years). According to these rates, we estimate a divergence time from their common ancestor around 1 220 000 years with cytochrome b and around 1 420 000 years with 12S rDNA. With regards the long history of coelacanth this range of divergence time makes it a recent event, and there is no doubt that this fascinating fish will continue to give us new surprising information.

Remerciements : Les auteurs tiennent à remercier C. Combes, A. Pariselle, D. Aurelle, M. Legendre, J.-F. Renno, J. Slembrouck, C. Tsigenopoulos et P. Levang représentant de l’IRD (ex-Orstom) en Indonésie pour son soutien financier.

5. References

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Fish tale has real legs

July 30, 2007 12:00am

"IT is a fish which has legs. It should be given back to the water. It will bring misfortune."

The fish is said to swim awkwardly.

So fisherman Justinus Lahama was told when he tried to sell his prize catch: a fish scientists dub a "living fossil".

Instead, it brought an international team of scientists rushing to Indonesia to investigate.

The rare coelacanth is among the world's oldest fish, usually living 200-1000m down, growing up to two metres, and weighing as much as 91kg.

On May 19, Lahama and son Delvy caught it from a canoe in Malalayang river, on northern Sulawesi.

He thought he was dreaming when he saw the creature on his line.

"It was an enormous fish. It had phosphorescent green eyes and legs. If I had pulled it up during the night, I would have been afraid and I would have thrown it back in."

The fish survived in a pool for 17 hours and, invaluably, was filmed. The species had only previously been recorded in caves at great depths.

Only the second captured in Asia, it was 1.3m long and weighed 50kg.

Coelacanths had been thought to have died out around the time dinosaurs became extinct, until one was found off eastern Africa in 1938.

Fossil records dating back more than 360 million years suggest they have changed little.

- AFP

Source: Herald Sun

Ancient Indonesian fish is 'living fossil'

Monday, 30 July 2007

Agençe France-Presse

MANADO, Indonesia: A surprised fisherman has caught only the second coelacanth known from Asia since it was first discovered here in 1998.

That fisherman, Justinus Lahama, found he had caught a fish so exceptional that an international team of scientists came to investigate.

French experts equipped with sonar and GPS this week asked Lahama to reconstruct, in his dugout canoe, exactly what it was he did that enabled him to catch the coelacanth fish, an awkward-swimming species that is among the world's oldest.

Coelacanths (Latimeria menadoensis) closely related to lungfish, usually live at depths of 200 to 1,000 metres. They can grow up to two metres in length and weigh as much as 91 kg.

Big and ugly: Indonesian, Japanese and French scientists carrying out an autopsy of the coelacanth in Manado, Sulawesi. Coelacanths are among the world's oldest species of fish. Their fossil record dates back more than 360 million years and suggest the animal has changed little in that time. Image: AFP

Dinosaur contemporary

Lahama, 48, has fished since he was 10 years old, like his father before him. But he was unlikely to have ever run into this "living fossil" species, as the enigmatic fish has been dubbed. Lahama's catch, 1.3 metres long and weighing 50 kilograms was only the second ever captured alive in Asia.

The first was caught in 1998, also off Manado. That catch astonished icthyologists, who until then had been convinced that the last coelacanths were found only off eastern Africa, mainly in the Commoros archipelago.

The species had been thought to have died out around the time dinosaurs became extinct, until one was found there in 1938. Fossil records for the fish date back more than 360 million years and suggest that it has changed little over that period.

Last May, Lahama and his son Delvy manoeuvred their frail canoe into the Malalayang River, on the outskirts of Manado, on northern Sulawesi island. Like any other morning, they rowed out to sea and fished within 200 metres of the beach.

"I very quickly unrolled the usual trawl line with three hooks, about 110 metres (yards) long, and at the end of three minutes, I felt a large catch," Lahama recounts.

Phosphorescent eyes

He thought he was dreaming, he said, when he saw the creature at the end of his line: "It was an enormous fish. It had phosphorescent green eyes and legs. If I had pulled it up during the night, I would have been afraid and I would have thrown it back in," he exclaims.

After spending 30 minutes out of water, the fish, still alive, was placed in a netted pool in front of a restaurant at the edge of the sea. It survived for 17 hours.

The local fisheries authorities filmed the coelacanth swimming in the metre-deep pool, capturing invaluable images as the species had only previously been recorded in caves at great depths. Once dead, the fish was frozen.

After the fisherman was interviewed, French, Japanese and Indonesian scientists working with the French Institute for Development and Research carried out an autopsy on the coelacanth. Genetic analysis is to follow.

The site of capture, so close to the beach and from a depth of 105 metres, had intrigued the experts. Does the Indonesian coelacanth live in shallower waters than its cousin in the Commoros?

Lahama's fish is to be preserved and will be displayed in a museum in Manado.

Source: Cosmo

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