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ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 



who Iiave had to work chiefly with distorted and fragmentary 

 remains. Although the scientists engaged in such work have been 

 reasonably confident that their reconstructions were fairly close to the 

 truth, there naturally remained a certain element of doubt. It ap- 

 peared that there could never be any possibility of comparing their 

 efforts with actual specimens, and many people regarded those recon- 

 structions as mere phantasies. This Coelacanth shows that the scien- 

 tists, in this case at least, have been remarkably accurate in their 

 reconstructions. Even the layman can see how close is the recon- 

 structed form of a Mesozoic Coelacanth to that of the recent fish of 

 East London, South Africa. 



Naturally enough this fish will fill in many of the gaps in our 

 Imowledge of those earlier forms. What is as important is that the 

 discovery makes it at least possible that there may be other primitive 

 creatures, believed long since extinct, lurking unsuspected in the 

 depths of the ocean. It is more than likely that there is a real "sea- 

 serpent." So many reliable persons have testified independently to 

 having seen that creature (or those creatures) that it cannot all be 

 fabrication. We know almost nothing about what may be present 

 in the depths of the ocean. 



I have been asked where this fish is likely to have lived. My 

 opinion — it can be only a guess — is that the species lives among 

 rocky ledges where trawlers cannot operate, and at depths, greater 

 than that at which line fishing is practicable. But a number of 

 factors incline me to believe that it does not live at very great depths. 

 Probably 100 to 200 fathoms, along the outer ledges where rocky slopes 

 fade down into the abyss, these Coelacanths lead a "coney-like" ex- 

 istence. Our specimen is probably a stray. There is reliable evidence 

 that others have been seen on our coasts. We hope that the advent 

 of other specimens will be not long delayed. We may even expect 

 other species. 



FiooRE 2. — The outline of a Coelucanthld flsh, which lived about 150 million years ago, 

 as reconstructed from fossil remains. 



