Coelacanth
Coelacanth The coelacanths constitute a now-rare order of fish that includes two extant species in the genus Latimeria : the West Indian Ocean coelacanth ( Latimeria chalumnae ) primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast of Africa and the Indonesian coelacanth ( Latimeria menadoensis ). They follow the oldest-known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods ), which means they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods than to ray-finned fish . They are found along the coastlines of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia . The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a critically endangered species . Coelacanths belong to the subclass Actinistia , a group of lobed-finned fish related to lungfish and certain extinct Devonian fish such as osteolepiforms , porolepiforms , rhizodonts , and Panderichthys . Coelacanths were thought to have become extinct in the Late Cretaceous , around 66 million years ago, b