The amazing return of the fossil fish

Eighty-five years ago, a trawler docked in the East London harbour with a prehistoric-looking fish on board. The specimen would spark global interest, as these fish were thought to have been extinct for 65 million years. Many more have since then been found alive. Mike Burgess tells the remarkable story of the coelacanth.

- Mike Burgess

Before 1938, the coelacanth, an ancient type of fish with fleshy, lobed fins, had only been seen in its fossil form. So it’s hardly surprising that when the then curator of the East London Museum, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, retrieved a coelacanth netted for scientific research, she was astonished, as were many researchers after her.

Some would go on to find more of these fish from the Cretaceous period and uncover their secret lives.

THE MYSTERY IN THE NET

In December 1938, Captain Hendrik Goosen was trawling off the Chalumna River during a powerful cold-water upwelling. These upwellings were known for producing unusual fish species, which Goosen always set aside for the East London Museum.

But nothing could have prepared him for what his net scooped up on 22 December 1938: a deep-blue 57,5kg fish that he had never seen before.

After inspecting the strange fish on the trawler, Courtenay-Latimer arranged for it to be transported to the museum, where she sketched it. She then posted the drawing to JLB Smith, a respected ichthyology professor who was holidaying in Knysna at the time.