Aquarium boss: 'Living fossil' fish a survival symbol (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

Hirofumi Imazu / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

"I want our aquarium to become an oasis for people in disaster-stricken areas, using the living-fossil coelacanth as our symbol," he said.

"I was called 'Abe the Braggart' for a while," aquarium director Yoshitaka Abe said with a wry smile.

It has taken the "big talker" only four months to reopen his Aquamarine Fukushima, which was struck hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The tsunami killed about 200,000 fish and other marine creatures at the aquarium in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture--nearly all the sea life kept there.

"Everyone thought was finished," said the 70-year-old Abe.

more...
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110721004699.htm

[arcane1]

1. It's beautiful!!

Maybe a little creepy, but beautiful! :)

[pinniped]

2. That fish was found in market somewhere in Africa.

.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. The second extant species, L. menadoensis...

The second extant species, L. menadoensis, was described from Manado Sulawesi, Indonesia in 1999 by Pouyaud et al.<6> based on a specimen discovered by Erdmann in 1998<7> and deposited at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). The first specimen of this species was only photographed at a local market by Arnaz and Mark Erdmann before being bought by a shopper.

The coelacanth has no real commercial value, apart from being coveted by museums and private collectors. As a food fish the coelacanth is almost worthless, as its tissues exude oils that give the flesh a foul flavour.<8> The continued survivability of the coelacanth may be at threat due to commercial deep-sea trawling.<9>~~Wikapedia

[Riftaxe]

4. a few years ago, there was a fascinating documentary

http://youtu.be/bjif3RvQF9g">Coelacanth: The Fish That Time Forgot

[AsahinaKimi]

5. Hey thanks for this.

This is interesting! Love Scientific documentaries.

[flvegan]

6. I guess *some* respect for marine life is better than none.

But then the humpback whale won't fit in any aquarium.

So...harpoons it could be, then.