A lobe-finned fish more closely related to lungfish and land vertebrates than to most fish. Known only from fossils and thought extinct for about 66 million years, it was found alive off South Africa in 1938. Two species survive, in the western Indian Ocean and off Indonesia.
Quick answers
What is it?Fish
Carnivore?Yes
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Night
It shelters in caves by day and drifts out to feed at night.
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inOceans
HabitatOpen ocean
ColoursBlue, Grey
SizeLarge
LengthUp to 2 m (females)
WeightAverage about 45 kg; up to 95 kg
LegsNone
Covered inScales
Lives alone
Lives for60–100 years
Can swim
In the wild
- Where it lives
- The western Indian Ocean from South Africa to Mozambique, the Comoros, Madagascar, Tanzania and Kenya; a second species lives off Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia.
- What it eats
- Fish, hunted at night by drifting almost motionless; it may stand on its head to slurp prey from crevices.
- Conservation
- Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List)
Did you know
Thought extinct for 66 million years until a South African trawler caught one in 1938.
Females give birth to 5–25 live pups, which can fend for themselves straight away.
It spends the day in underwater lava caves and hunts nearby at night.
Often confused with
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