Links
DINOFISH.com
www.dinofish.com
This irreverent and informative site, maintained by coelacanth enthusiast Jerome Hamlin, offers an extensive range of information for amateur coelacanthophiles on the fish's anatomy and behavior. DINOFISH.com also features streaming video of coelacanths with scuba divers, an entertaining virtual coelacanth Web cam, and a "Coelashop," where you can purchase a range of "coelagear."
The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
www.saiab.ru.ac.za
Formerly known as the J.L.B. Smith Institute (named for the scientist who first identified a living coelacanth in 1938), the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity is a research center devoted to the study of fish. Its Web site is the Internet hub for information about African fishes (particularly the coelacanth), aquatic biodiversity, and fish conservation. You'll find dozens of seminal articles on the coelacanth, an exhaustive list of related links, and historical information on the discovery of the fish.
DigiMorph Coelacanth
www.digimorph.org/specimens/Latimeria_chalumnae/head
The National Science Foundation Digital Libraries Initiative offers a Web site where you can view 3D imagery of the internal and external structure of dozens of animals. See the coelacanth or browse a list of other popular visualizations, including ones of bats, alligators, and mice.
Books
A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth
by Samantha Weinberg. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001.
If nothing else, the case of the coelacanth makes a great detective story, one whose ending still eludes scientists as they learn more about this mysterious fish. Weinberg's engaging book details the whole story of the coelacanth, from its identity as an extinct fish, to the discovery of the first living coelacanth, to recent discoveries of coelacanths in waters far away from their known habitat.
The History of the Coelacanth Fishes
by Peter Forey. New York: Chapman and Hall, 1998.
Forey, a coelacanth expert at London's Natural History Museum, presents an exhaustive history of the coelacanth, detailing the fish's family history and offering up-to-date accounts of the structure of fossil coelacanths in comparison with their living relations. The book includes an introduction on the concept of living fossils.
Living Fossils: Animals That Have Withstood the Test of Time
by James Martin. New York: Crown, 1997
The coelacanth, the Komodo dragon, the cockroach—learn more about nature's survivors, which have survived the test of time practically unchanged. This kid-friendly book features beautiful photographs and uncomplicated prose.
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Island of the Sharks
Visit Costa Rica's Cocos Island, which boasts more sharks per cubic yard of water than perhaps any other place on the planet.
Kingdom of the Seahorse
The world's leading sea horse biologist journeys to Australia and the Philippines to explore the secret lives of these extraordinary fish.
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