THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

196 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
overlapping home ranges.
Appearance: Length to 2 m. Weight to 95 k.
Body dark, metallic blue-black, with numerous
irregular pale blotches.
Diet: After sunset, a coelacanth singly leaves
its cave and moves slowly across the substrate,
presumably looking for food, within 1–3
meters of the bottom, drifting passively with
the current or swimming slowly with its paired
fins and its second dorsal and anal fins. Travels
as much as 8 km in search of food and retreats
to the nearest cave before dawn. Preys on fishes
and squid (a skate, an eel and a swell shark
have also been reported as eaten).
A relatively small gill area seems to limit
coelacanth to a slow metabolism and
movements, drift-feeding at night in cold
waters and resting in slightly warmer caves
for food digestion during the day. By resting
in caves where there are no strong currents,
the coelacanth saves energy and avoids
encounters with large predators such as deepwater
sharks.
Reproduction and Development: Ovoviviparous,
with as many as 5–29 offspring. Gestation
period estimated at 3 years, which would be
the longest known in vertebrates.
Mortality/Longevity: Eaten by large sharks.
Live to at least 48 years, and perhaps to 80.
Conservation Status: CITES: Appendix I:
international trade banned since 1990. IUCN:
Critically Endangered.
Remarks: Entire books have been written
about this species!
This “living fossil,” was first documented as a
living species in 1938, when discovered near the
Comoros Islands off the east coast of Africa. It
comes from a line of fishes thought to have been
extinct since the time of dinosaurs some 66 million
years ago. Earliest representatives from the fossil
record date to at least 360 million years ago.
Until fairly recently, coelacanths were believed
to be the ancestors of tetrapods, though many
researchers presently give this distinction to
lungfishes. The issue has yet to be resolved.
When the animal swims, the left pectoral and
right pelvic fins move forward, while the right
pectoral and left pelvic fins are pulled backward.
This tandem movement of alternate paired fins
resembles the movement of the forelimbs and
hindlimbs of a tetrapod walking on land.
ORDER CERATODONTIFORMES
(AUSTRALIAN LUNGFISH)
Australian Lungfish
Neoceratodus forsteri (Ceratodontidae)
Australian Lungfish
Distribution: Four rivers in the state of
Queensland, Australia.
Habitat: Rivers with low flow in the austral
summer, then restricted to pools that remain.
Appearance: Flipperlike fins, large scales; stocky,
compressed body. To nearly 2 m in length.
Diet: Omnivorous. Plant material is an important
component of the diet.
Reproduction: Eggs hatch into small lungfish;
unlike African (Protopteridae) and South
American (Lepidosirenidae) lungfishes, the
Australian lungfish has no larval stage
Mortality/Longevity: Live to more than 65
years in captivity. Some individuals may live
to 100 years.
Conservation Status: CITES Appendix II. Loss
of habitat threatens this species.
Remarks: One Australian lungfish is the oldest
specimen in the Steinhart’s live collection;
“Methusela” arrived from the Melbourne Zoo
in 1938. It was half its current size at the time.
This species most resembles lungfish fossil
forms.
Unlike the African lungfish, this species
cannot survive dry spells through estivation.
Although the lung supplements the gills
during times of oxygen stress, it cannot survive
solely by breathing air.
The Australian lungfish has only a single lung;
the other two lungfish species have paired
lungs.
CLASS AMPHIBIA
ORDER CAUDATA
(SALAMANDERS)
Chinese Giant Salamander
Andrias davidianus (Cryptobranchidae)
Distribution: Streams and rivers in Southeast
China.
Habitat: Totally aquatic. Clear, cold, fast-