Prehistoric Fish Filmed: Sulawesi

First up they find fossils of the ancient fish, and now, the scientists have actually filmed the extremely primitive and rare coelacanth fish in deep waters off Manado, North Sulawesi. The fish obviously live a healthy life style to last all those years!.

The team of Indonesian and Japanese from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences Oceanology Center and the Fukushima Aquamarine Institute used a remotely operated vehicle to take pictures of five of the fish swimming at between 150 and 200 meters below sea level.

The coelacanth was first rediscovered in South Africa waters in 1938 and was later caught dead in North Sulawesi waters in 1998 and 1999. Scientists had previously thought the fish had died out around 70 to 80 million years ago and only knew of its existence from fossils. The discovery of the first coelacanth was described as akin to finding a living dinosaur roaming the earth.

Researchers said the latest find could indicate these fish originated in the Manado Sea and later migrated to South Africa revising an earlier assumption that the species originated from South Africa. The five foot long coelacanth fish liked to dwell in ocean caves and is a predator that eats smaller fish. The species named the Latimerai manadoensis is a brownish colour with white spots dotted all over its body.

Scientists were surprised at the extra fleshy fins of this species which they said resembled human hands and feet.

The fish has a low metabolism and needs to consume very little to survive for a long time. The coelacanth has lived for more 360 million years under water making it one of the world's oldest fish. With this find it makes one think a little bit more about the credibility of the Loch Ness Monster!.