ALL meanings of coelacanth
coe·la·canth
C c - noun coelacanth 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 3
- noun coelacanth any of an order (Coelacanthiformes) of lobefin fishes, now extinct except for the latimeria 3
- noun coelacanth a crossopterygian fish, Latimeria chalumnae, thought to have been extinct since the Cretaceous Period but found in 1938 off the coast of southern Africa. 1
- noun coelacanth A large, bony marine fish with a three-lobed tail fin and fleshy pectoral fins. It is thought to be related to the ancestors of land vertebrates and was known only from fossils until one was found alive in 1938; since then others have been found near the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean and off Sulawesi, Indonesia. 1
- noun coelacanth Either of two species of deep-water fish, Latimeria chalumnae of the Indian Ocean and Latimeria menadoensis of Indonesia. 0
- noun coelacanth Any lobe-finned fish in the order Coelacanthiformes, thought until 1938 to have been extinct for 70 million years. 0