"Old Fourlegs" also calls North Sulawesi home!

A contribution by Mark V. Erdmann, the biologist who discovered the Bunaken population of Coelacanths.

In September 1998, newspapers and magazines the world over heralded the discovery of a previously unknown population of coelacanth fishes (Latimeria sp.) within the famous Bunaken National Park in North Sulawesi. Previously thought to exist only in the tiny Comoros archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, this large (up to 2 m in length) prehistoric fish surprised scientists and laymen alike by turning up in fishermen's nets off the picturesque volcanic island of Manado Tua, over 10,000 km from the Comoros!

Although coelacanths have been around for almost 400 million years (older than the dinosaurs), recent scientific surveys have shown that this "living fossil" is now in danger of extinction. The new population in North Sulawesi provides hope that coelacanths are actually much more widespread than originally thought.

The creature's inaccessible habitat (they live on steep volcanic slopes of at least 100-200 m depth) means that recreational divers won't be able to swim with them, but simply the knowledge that this fantastic animal may be swimming a mere 100m below them will excite many divers.

Celebes Divers is currently assisting coelacanth researchers in organizing several submersible expeditions to further study the North Sulawesi coelacanth population and estimate its size. Depending upon the success of these expeditions, further plans call for a public coelacanth information center in Manado, as well as the possibility of real-time video displays from special video cameras installed at the entrance of the deep caves where the creatures live.

Old Fourlegs, as the coelacanth is popularly known, seems to fit in well with the other exotic marine life of North Sulawesi (ranging from pygmy seahorses to hairy frogfish), and its discovery here provides further proof that this area lies in the epicenter of marine biodiversity for our planet. Come and share part of North Sulawesi's rich natural heritage!

 

Text and Photos: Mark V. Erdmann