One top site sez, in part: “The backbone of this fish is composed of a fluid-filled cartilaginous tube, which provides a firm yet flexible support for muscles. Hollow fin spines, identified in fossils, are what got the fish its name- “coelacanth” which literally means ‘hollow spine’from the Greek.

The sucking maws of jawless predecessors have transformed, through a modification of one of the gill arches, into hinged, rigid structures with teeth on the bottom ridge and upper palate- true jaws.

The tiny brain, encased in a hardened skull, hinges in the middle to increase the gape of the mouth while feeding (a feature also found in frogs!) The eyes are well developed, with reflecting cells called tapita to enhance night vision. A chambered heart pumps blood in prototype to our own.

Three indentations on either side of the snout lead to a peculiar cavity, a jelly-filled rostral organ, which very likely functions as an electro-receptor to help in the location of prey. Along the sides, a pressure sensitive lateral line is well developed to sense the proximity of other fishes and surrounding structures – no doubt useful in the submarine caves where coelacanths pass their days.

Two back, or dorsal, fins and one protruding beneath the nape of the tail are complimented by paired lobed pectoral and pelvic fins. These contain in their trunks bones mimicking those of Eusthenopteron which later developed into arms and legs.

While coelacanths have not been observed to “walk” on the bottom, their pectoral and pelvic fins can be seen as “pre-adaptations” to land locomotion. Used under water their action maintains stability and balance. But in their cousin Eusthenopteron, the same action became four-legged land walking.

Coelacanth scales are thick, and lined with serrated rows of hardened toothpick-pointed denticles. Perhaps most distinctive of all is the trilobated tail, with its extra trunk and fin protruding from the middle. It was this feature that made fossil coelacanths so easily recognizable and helped clinch the case for the identification of the first living specimen.”…

…and that’s just one small part of only one page on one of the Sites!!!

Putrid political policy notwithstanding, Google is all of the Public Libraries in the world times N, for me. I mean, 315,000 results!!! I use Google (and Snopes and others) frequently, to get a wider understanding of whatever I find myself snooping into ~ Information and Communication, my two basic Tools.