coelacanth /ˈsiː.lə.kænθ/ noun2 •Any of the class Actinistia of primitive lobe-finned fish in the order Coelacanthiformes—thought to have been extinct for 70 million years until a living specimen was discovered in 1938. Most species are large and plump and they all have bodies covered in tough elasmoid scales that act as armor.Among them were ancient relatives of the piranhas and those popular aquarium fish the tetras, along with garfish and freshwater coelacanths, known as mawsonids. — 2018 •Either of the two extant species in this group; the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) or the Indonesian coelacanth (Latimeria menadoensis). formscoelacanths
