Identification of the Coelacanth 50th Anniversary

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Cachet: Shape of south African coast, Coelacanth and ship

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IDENTIFISERING VAN DIE SELAKANT 50 JAAR GELEDE Vyftig jaar gelede, op 20 Februarie 1939, is die verbluffende aankondiging gemaak dat 'n Selakant aan die mond van die Chalumnarivier naby Oos-Londen gevang is. Intydes is gemeen dat die Selakant byna 70 miljoen jaar vroeër uitgesterf het. Die drama het op 22 Desember 1938 begin toe Kapt. H. Goosen, skipper van die treiler Nerine, 'n eienaardige metaalblou, swaargeskubde vis met vinne soortgelyk aan bene aan wal gebring het. Mej. Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, Kurator van die Oos-Londense Museum, is oor die vreemde vangs ingelig, maar kon die vis, wat 1,5 m lank was en 57 kg gewoeg het, nie eien nie. Nadat dit deur 'n taksidermis, mnr. R. Center, behandel en gemonteer is, is 'n beskrywing en skets van die vis na Prof J L B Smith van die Universiteit Rhodes, op Grahamstad, gestuur. Die beskrywing en skets het ooreenkomste getoon met Paleosoikum-fossiele, ook Selakante genoem, en by nadere ondersoek van die vis op 16 Februarie 1939, kon Prof Smith verklaar dat dit inderdaad 'n Selakant was. As huldeblyk aan mej. Courtenay-Latimer, is die benaming Latimeria chalumnae daaraan toegeken. Die ontdekking van die Selakant is 'n biologiese vonds van die eeu bestempel en die gebeure is met banieropskrifte berig oor die hele wêreld gerapporteer. Prof Smith se formele beskrywing van die vis in die Britse tydskrif Nature en in Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa het ook nuwe wetenskaplike en ander belangstelling gaande gemaak. Die belangrikheid van die ontdekking van die Selakant lê in die feit dat dit die langslewende spesies is van 'n groep visse wat miljoene jare gelede uitgesterf het. Daarbenewens is dit die noouste lewende bloedverwant van Rhipidistia, wat die water verlaat het om aan land te gaan lewe en wat moontlik tot hoër vorme van lewe kon lei. Danksy die ontdekking, kon wetenskaplikes die beskikbare inligting baie meer verruim as wat voorheen uit fossiele bekombaar was. Prof Smith het die see nie as die Selakant se normale habitat beskou nie, maar het vermoed dat die tropiese westelike Indiese Oseaan die ware habitat is. Na 'n soektog van 14 jaar saam met sy vrou Margaret, is 'n tweede Selakant aan die einde van 1952 by die Comoro-eilande ontdek. Dit was so belangrik dat dit gesê is dat die destydse Eerste Minister, Dr D F Malan, beskikbaar gestel is om die vis te gaan haal. Dit word tans in die JLB Smith-Instituut vir Visvorsing op Grahamstad bewaar en meer as 150 Selakante is sedertdien by die Comore-eiland gevang. Hulle is in museums oor die hele wêreld tentoongestel, waar die oorspronklike eksemplaar in die Oos-Londense Museum bewaar word, die tweede eksemplaar in Grahamstad, en een elk in Pretoria en Pietermaritzburg. Na die vangs van die derde Selakant, het Prof Smith 'n boek getitel Old Fourlegs, The Story of the Coelacanth gepubliseer. Dit het drie Engelse uitgawes beleef en is in nege ander tale, o.m. Russies en Japanees, gepubliseer. Die 16c-seël toon 'n lewende Selakant, Latimeria chalumnae, in sy natuurlike habitat. Die 30c-seël toon Prof J L B Smith en Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer by 'n Selakant. Die JLB Smith-Instituut vir Visvorsing op Grahamstad is in 1946 gestig en word sedert 1977 gehuisves in die moderne gebou wat op die 40c-seël afgebeeld is. Die Instituut speel 'n leidende rol in seevisnavorsing en in die bewaring van die Selakant. Die 50c-seël toon die GEO tweeman-duikboot wat gebruik word om die lewende Selakant onder water te bestudeer. Wetenskaplikes stel ook ondersoek in na bewaringsmaatreëls ten opsigte van die spesie wat voortbestaan daarvan bedreig word. IDENTIFICATION OF THE COELACANTH 50 YEARS AGO Fifty years ago, on 20 February 1939, the stunning announcement was made that a Coelacanth had been caught off the Chalumna River mouth near East London. At that time, the Coelacanth was thought to be extinct for nearly 70 million years. The drama commenced on 22 December 1938, when Capt H Goosen, skipper of the trawler Nerine, brought ashore a peculiar metallic-blue, heavily-scaled fish with fins resembling legs. Miss Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, Curator of the East London Museum, was informed of the strange catch, but was unable to identify the fish, which measured 1,5 m in length and weighed 57 kg. After it had been treated and mounted by a taxidermist, Mr R Center, a description and sketch were sent to Prof J L B Smith of Rhodes University, at Grahamstown. The description and sketch resembled palaeozoic fossils, also called Coelacanths, and after detailed examination of the fish on 16 February 1939, Prof Smith was able to declare that it was indeed a Coelacanth. As a tribute to Miss Courtenay-Latimer it was named Latimeria chalumnae. The discovery of the Coelacanth was described as the biological find of the century and the event was heralded with banner reports world-wide. Prof Smith's formal descriptions of the fish in the British journal Nature and in Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa also aroused new scientific and other interest. The scientific significance of the Coelacanth lies in the fact that it is the longest surviving species of a group of fishes which became extinct millions of years ago. Furthermore, it is the closest living relative of Rhipidistia, which emerged from water onto land and which may have given rise to higher forms of life. The discovery allowed scientists to broaden available information which had previously been gleaned from fossils only. Prof Smith held the opinion that the sea near East London was not the normal habitat of the Coelacanth, but in fact the tropical western Indian Ocean. After a search of 14 years together with his wife Margaret, a second Coelacanth was discovered at the end of 1952 by the Comoro Islands. This was considered so important that the then Prime Minister, Dr D F Malan, made available a military aircraft to fetch the fish which is now on display at the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology in Grahamstown. More than 150 Coelacanths have since been caught off the Comoros, and can be viewed in museums throughout the world, including the East London Museum, where the original specimen is preserved, the second specimen in Grahamstown, and one each in Pretoria and Pietermaritzburg. After landing the third Coelacanth, Prof Smith published a book entitled Old Fourlegs, The Story of the Coelacanth. It has seen three English editions and was also published in nine other languages, including Russian and Japanese. The 16c stamp depicts a live Coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, in its natural habitat. The 30c stamp portrays Prof J L B Smith and Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer with a Coelacanth. The JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology was established in Grahamstown in 1946 and since 1977, has been accommodated in the modern building depicted on the 40c stamp. The Institute plays a leading role in marine fish research and in Coelacanth conservation. The 50c stamp features the GEO two-man submarine which is being used to study the living Coelacanth under water. Scientists are also investigating current conservation measures regarding the species because of possible threats to its survival.

Additional information

This cover was postmarked on 9 February 1989 in East London and marked 50 years since the discovery of the coelacanth, a fish once thought to have vanished 70 million years ago. Its set of four stamps, illustrated by A. McBride, told the story from the original 1938 catch off the Chalumna River to Professor J L B Smith and Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer's confirmation of the find, the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology built to study the species, and the submarine later used to observe living specimens in the wild. What made the discovery so remarkable was that the coelacanth belonged to a group of fish believed extinct for tens of millions of years, and its fins closely resembled the limb structure of early land dwelling vertebrates, offering scientists a rare living link to one of the great evolutionary leaps in life on Earth.

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