Abstract
ALL known specimens of the Recent coelacanth fish, Latimeria, are large specimens (mostly more than 100 cm total length) and only one female with eggs has been recorded1,2. Consequently, the ontogeny and the early growth stages of the Recent coelacanth are unknown. In the fossil record, one specimen of Holophagus (= Undina) from the Upper Jurassic of Solnhofen, southern Germany, has been recorded with two young coelacanths inside3. Watson has argued from this finding that the coelacanths are viviparous but it seems more reasonable to interpret this fossil specimen as a cannibal that had just swallowed two young of its own kind. This interpretation is favoured by the position of the two specimens and by the discovery of other fossil coelacanths containing large specimens of other kinds of fishes in their stomachs4.
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