Bibliography of the living coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae, with comments on publication trends

Abstract

A list of published references on the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae is provided. All known publications in the scientific literature are included as well as popular articles and press reports that are considered to provide new information or interpretations. Marked trends are noticeable in the literature as different disciplines have been applied to research on the coelacanth over the past five decades. The bibliography lists a total of 823 publications including 490 papers in journals, 37 books, 3 theses, 45 chapters in books, 166 popular articles, 22 reports and 60 newspaper articles. Studies on taxonomy and morphology initially dominated the literature followed by reports on research in the fields of physiology, behaviour, breeding biology, ecology and conservation as frozen and eventually live specimens became available for study. The literature on the living coelacanth is predominantly in English, French, Japanese and German but references in 12 other languages were also traced. The dominant authors in the first decades of coelacanth research were the French scientists J. Millot and J. Anthony and the South African describer of the first and second coelacanths, J.L.B. Smith. In subsequent years French, British, American, South African, Japanese, Canadian and German authors, among others, have made significant contributions.