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| June 2004 |
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Third discovery of new coelacanths
All the new finds were made using a submersible during the sixth ship-board expedition mounted by the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (Acep) and geared specifically towards establishing the distribution of coelacanths in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. Six East African countries are Acep partners – Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles. As many of the submarine canyons in the park as could be reached in three weeks have been visited by the submersible and most were found to have the type of habitat preferred by coelacanths. However, coelacanths have been observed in only one canyon not explored before – Chaka’s Canyon – which is 50 kms south of Jesser and Wright Canyons, where South Africa’s known population of the ‘fossil fish’ was initially discovered and has since been observed by scientists over a period of three years. Three new coelacanths were found in Chaka’s Canyon at the end of April, indicating the possibility that there are at least two separate families of coelacanths in Sodwana. This would increase the genetic and breeding stability of the populations and decrease the vulnerability of the animals to extinction. After the Chaka’s Canyon find, a new member of the Jesser Canyon coelacanth group was found. Each fish has a unique pattern of white spots, making it possible to distinguish one from another. Then, during a night dive during May, three additional coelacanths were observed in Chaka’s Canyon.
“Also, although we didn’t see coelacanths in every new canyon we visited this time round, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” Establishing which canyons do and don’t contain coelacanths holds implications for conservation management of the fish. “If coelacanths are found in a variety of canyons and we know their patterns of movement between canyons, then a possible management strategy would be to protect completely some canyons and allow recreational divers to have controlled access to others. However, it is premature to make such recommendations now, because we need a better understanding of the overall population size and, of crucial significance, the movement of coelacanths between canyons,” Ribbink says. Surveying the canyons for coelacanths has ended for this particular expedition, with the submersible provided by the German government under the South Africa-German agreement on science and technology having gone on to its new assignment. However, the biological and oceanographic research component of the expedition continues in South Africa and Mozambique. More information: Dr Tony Ribbink Moira Tuck, Acep Press Office Photo credits: Coelacanth photo: Jago-Team/Group Fricke Max-Planck-Institute Seewiesen on South African Coelacanth Programme Jago photo: James Stapley/South African Coelacanth Conservation and Genome Resource Programme. Related articles:
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The
discovery in May of three new coelacanths in Chaka’s Canyon in the Greater St
Lucia Wetland Park brings to seven the number of previously unidentified
coelacanths found. It also pushes the number of known coelacanths in South
African waters to 25.
“Submarine
canyons are huge, so in the limited time available to us we are only able to
visit rather than thoroughly examine them,” says Acep Programme Manager, Dr
Tony Ribbink. “Which is why we keep finding coelacanths we haven’t seen
before in Jesser and Wright canyons.