The international program of research on Latimeria in the 1960s

Abstract

The international phase of coelacanth research, meaning substantial activity and involvement by people from countries other than the Comoros, France and South Africa, began in 1961. In that year UNESCO initiated detailed planning for a multinational, multiyear investigation of many aspects of the physical, chemical and biological environments of the Indian Ocean that was called the International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE). In response to a request for proposals for the United States' program in biology in the IIOE the author, early in 1961, initiated a plan for what became a 3-month long expedition by 15 scientists from three countries on board the R/V TE VEGA. In 1964 the expedition went to northern Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. Efforts to capture and study at least one specimen of Latimeria were a major component of the activities. This paper describes important aspects of the preparations leading up to this expedition and the events that occurred during the expedition, in the context of the search for the coelacanth. The expedition did not capture a fish itself, but arrangements made during the trip resulted in a specimen (CCC no. 37), partly fixed in formalin and then frozen, being sent to the author in early 1965. A detailed study of the fats and oils contained in this fish resulted in a prediction concerning the probable neutral buoyancy of Latimeria that has been supported by the recent behavioral observations from submersibles. The paper concludes with a brief account of the activities of the Committee on Latimeria that was sponsored by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences from 1968–1972.