[7] On September 18, 1997, Arnaz and Mark Erdmann, traveling in Indonesia on their honeymoon, saw a strange fish in a market at Manado Tua, on the island of Sulawesi.

[11] The fish was barely alive, but it lived for six hours, allowing Erdmann to photographically document its coloration, fin movements and general behavior.

[12] The fish collected by Erdmann was described in a 1999 issue of Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des sciences Paris by Pouyaud et al..

However the supplied photographic evidence of the purported earlier specimen, supposedly collected off southwest Java, was recognised as a crude forgery by the editorial team and the claim was never published.

With the discovery of Latimeria menadoensis found in Indonesian waters, researchers have suggested that this area could be the point of origin of all the coelacanths.

[18] Superficially, the Indonesian coelacanth, known locally as raja laut ("king of the sea"), appears to be the same as those found in the Comoros except that the background coloration of the skin is brownish-gray rather than bluish.

It has the same white mottling pattern as the West Indian Ocean coelacanth, but with flecks over the dorsal surface of its body and fins that appear golden due to the reflection of light.

[17][20] These two species also reflect their taxa in certain morphological characteristics, especially in their pectoral and pelvic fin-like structure and in their oil-filled notochord instead of a vertebral spine.

[21] It also has unique hollow fin rays which adds to the coelacanth's image as a living fossil.It has also a considerable adipose-filled swim bladder for the control of buoyancy and an intracranial articulation which facilitates the jaw movement during feeding.

Adult coelacanths, although less frequently sighted or captured than in the past, are still reasonably well-known, whereas juvenile specimens are rarely reported or sampled, resulting in a lack of understanding of their development and sexual maturity.

[26] The structures used to estimate age and growth in coelacanths are not explicitly known, but in many fish species, otoliths (ear stones) and fin rays are commonly used for this purpose.

[18] This adaptation has undergone further shift, together with the expansion of the rostral organ, which can detect electrical signals, enables the coelacanth to move and feed in the dark environment.

While hunting, coelacanths have been observed to swim with their heads directed upwards in what is thought to be headstand posturing which is the most energy efficient.

[21] The conservation of energy is essential due to their relatively slow metabolic rates, a consequence of living in a deep-sea habitat.

Latimeria menadoensis is classified as a vulnerable species due to its limited distribution, small population size, and threat from bycatch in deep-sea fishing.

It has now assumed a huge social significance in Indonesia where it is a point of local and national pride and is the emblematic species for marine conservation in the Southeast Asia.

[21][17] Increased human activity specifically along the coastal shelf may lead to enhanced sedimentation and a decrease in the quantity and quality of the complex deep sea structures the coelacanths depend on.

[21] As a counteraction, certain measures were implemented in Bunaken National Park, including the regulations that prohibited the usage of those nets, and no more coelacanths were caught in the area.

[5] There are no specific fisheries to target the coelacanth, and even though the species is inedible, there have been instances of foreign buyers attempting to lure fishers to catch the fish, most likely for a museum or to be put in a display tank in an aquarium.