Indonesian ‘King of the Sea’ Discovered N 30 July 1998, an Indonesian Popula- Fishermen from North Sulawesi Who Claim Otion of Coelacanth Was Discovered

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scientific correspondence Indonesian ‘king of the sea’ discovered n 30 July 1998, an Indonesian popula- fishermen from north Sulawesi who claim Otion of coelacanth was discovered. It is to have captured coelacanths. These inter- apparently the same species as the well- views, combined with the vast distance known coelacanth from the Comoran arch- from the Comoran archipelago, strongly ipelago in the Indian Ocean, Latimeria support the idea that the Indonesian coela- chalumnae Smith. canths are part of an established north At sunrise on 30 July, Om Lameh Sulawesi population, and not simply ‘strays’,8 Sonathan and his crew of ten fishermen as has been suggested for the other speci- retrieved a living coelacanth from their mens captured outside the Comoros9. deep-set shark gill-net off the young vol- The discovery of an Indonesian coela- canic island of Manado Tua, north Sula- canth population has biogeographical and wesi, Indonesia. This is almost 10,000 km conservation implications. It is unlikely that from the known population of L. chalum- living coelacanth exist only in two small, nae in the Comoros1,2. The Indonesian highly disjunct populations. Comparison of specimen, which is 124 cm long and weighs DNA sequences from tissues of the Indone- 29.2 kg, was observed live by one of us sian and the western Indian Ocean speci- (M.V.E.) for more than 3 hours before the mens will reveal the depth of divergence carcass was deep-frozen and tissue samples between these two populations. were collected for molecular analysis. Further expeditions in Indonesia and to A preliminary examination of the speci- the islands in the vast stretch of Indian men’s external morphology suggests that it The Indonesian coelacanth shortly after capture. Ocean between the Comoros and Indonesia is conspecific with L. chalumnae, although may discover additional populations. This this must be confirmed by further investiga- oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus4. Of the three pre- would be welcome news for coelacanth con- tion. The only immediately observable dif- vious specimens caught outside the servation, as the fish is considered highly ference from published accounts of L. Comoros, two were captured in trawl nets, endangered, in part because of its extremely chalumnae is the colour. Previous speci- off South Africa3 and Mozambique7, and a limited distribution and small population mens, from the western Indian Ocean, specimen from Madagascar was caught in a size10. Nonetheless, the Indonesian govern- including the first one observed by Marjorie gill-net8. Interviews with fishermen ment is already considering measures to Courtenay Latimer, are usually described as throughout north Sulawesi reveal that, prevent a repeat of the conservation prob- ‘steel blue’3,4, although there are reports of although the oilfish is often caught by hand- lems caused by fishing and scientific collec- dead coelacanths appearing brown5. The line in this area, coelacanth (known locally tion in the Comoros11. live Indonesian specimen was distinctly as raja laut, or ‘king of the sea’) are only Mark V. Erdmann*†, Roy L. Caldwell*, brown. It shares the same characteristic ever caught using deep gill-nets. M. Kasim Moosa† white mottling pattern as Indian Ocean The new specimen is actually the second *Department of Integrative Biology, specimens6, but has numerous striking gold coelacanth to be reported from north University of California, Berkeley, flecks over the entire dorsal surface of the Sulawesi. On 18 September 1997, the wife of Berkeley, California 94720, USA body and fins. These are apparently a pris- M.V.E. saw a strange-looking fish being †Indonesian Institute of Sciences, matic effect of light reflecting off the wheeled in a cart across the fish market in Jakarta, Indonesia numerous denticles on the scales. Manado. The fish was immediately recog- 1. Smith, J. L. B. Nature 171, 99–101 (1953). The fish was caught in a shark gill-net of nized as a coelacanth, but we only managed 2. Fricke, H. & Plante, R. Naturwissenschaften 75, 149–151 (1988). mesh size 6 cm, approximately 150 m in to take some photographs of the fish and 3. Smith, J. L. B. Nature 143, 455–456 (1939). 4. Balon, E. K., Bruton, M. N. & Fricke, H. Env. Biol. Fishes 23, length and 11 m in height, set 3.5 m off the briefly interview the fisherman before it was 241–280 (1988). substrate at a depth of 100–150 m for a 12- sold. M.V.E. has since been interviewing 5. Millot, J. Naturaliste Malgache (suppl.) 1, 1–26 (1954). 6. Fricke, H. et al. Env. Biol. Fishes 32, 287–300 (1991). hour period overnight. The capture site was fishermen in villages throughout the area, as 7. Bruton, M. N., Cabral, A. J. P. & Fricke, H. S. Afr. J. Sci. 88, at the base of a steep volcanic slope known part of a US National Science Foundation 225–227 (1992). for its complex cave and crevice topogra- international postdoctoral fellowship with 8. Heemstra, P. C., Freeman, A. L., Wong, H. Y., Hensley, D. A. & Rabesandratana, H. D. S. Afr. J. Sci. 92, 150–151 (1996). phy, and appears similar to the habitat the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and with 9. Schliewen, U., Fricke, H., Schartl, M., Epplen, J. T. & Pääbo, S. 7 reported for the Comoran coelacanths . the support of the National Geographic Nature 363, 405 (1993). This is only the fourth coelacanth Society. These surveys have identified several 10. Fricke, H., Hissmann, K., Schauer, J. & Plante, R. Nature 374, 314 (1995). reported to be caught in a net, as the 11. Forey, P. L. History of the Coelacanth Comoran specimens were cap- Fishes (Chapman and Hall, London, 1998). tured by fishermen hand-lining for the