Courtenay-Latimer lacked the facilities to preserve the specimen intact, and due to the hot weather had the animal stuffed. She sent a sketch and a short description by mail, to Rhodes University ichthyologist Dr JLB Smith After some delay, a look at the unusual fleshy fins convinced Smith that the specimen was in fact part of the coelacanths, a group of fish that had supposedly died out millions of years ago.
Frustrated by heavy rains and other delays, Prof Smith was only finally saw the fish for the first time six weeks after it had been caught.
He named it Latimeria chalumnae – after Marjorie Courtney-Latimer and the Chalumna River — and the world couldn’t get enough of it.
The Dispatch reported on the record crowds attracted to the museum — 1,527 in a single day — and the cables (brief messages sent down telephone lines and printed out) came flooding in offering congratulations or requesting further information.
Much was made of the large volumes of oil that the fish continued to emit from its scales and spine — even after it was mounted. The Dispatch detailed the careful rail packaging arrangements made to ensure the fish reached then-Grahamstown intact and reassured the public that once examined, it would return to a special showcase at the East London Museum where it would undoubtedly rank amongst “the most treasured possessions”.
A look back in history Scientific discovery that put East London on world map
The Daily Dispatch was on hand to broadcast the news of the discovery of a fish thought to have been extinct for millions of years.
Image: ALAN EASON
Nothing makes Eastern Cape science lovers more proud than the local discovery of the prehistoric coelacanth.
On the 20th of February 1939, the Daily Dispatch broke the news of a scientific discovery that was to become synonymous with East London and its small but vibrant museum.
Our newspaper went for it, announcing to the world, in a frenzy of capital letters: “Sensational scientific discovery — Valuable zoological specimen found off East London coast”. The story went on to explain that the fish had been regarded as extinct for 50,000,000 years having previously only appeared in fossil records.
The coelacanth as it came to be known, had been landed from a trawler on the East London dock on December 22 1938. The rapidly decomposing fish had come to the attention of the curator of the East London Museum, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, who immediately identified it as a species of living fish unknown to science.
Image: SUPPLIED
Courtenay-Latimer lacked the facilities to preserve the specimen intact, and due to the hot weather had the animal stuffed. She sent a sketch and a short description by mail, to Rhodes University ichthyologist Dr JLB Smith After some delay, a look at the unusual fleshy fins convinced Smith that the specimen was in fact part of the coelacanths, a group of fish that had supposedly died out millions of years ago.
Frustrated by heavy rains and other delays, Prof Smith was only finally saw the fish for the first time six weeks after it had been caught.
He named it Latimeria chalumnae – after Marjorie Courtney-Latimer and the Chalumna River — and the world couldn’t get enough of it.
The Dispatch reported on the record crowds attracted to the museum — 1,527 in a single day — and the cables (brief messages sent down telephone lines and printed out) came flooding in offering congratulations or requesting further information.
Much was made of the large volumes of oil that the fish continued to emit from its scales and spine — even after it was mounted. The Dispatch detailed the careful rail packaging arrangements made to ensure the fish reached then-Grahamstown intact and reassured the public that once examined, it would return to a special showcase at the East London Museum where it would undoubtedly rank amongst “the most treasured possessions”.
Image: FILES
And that is where it is today, in the form of a prominently displayed holotype specimen.
Since 1938, this coelacanth has been found in the Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and off the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos