Cartão Postal Coelaconth, the "Living Fossil Fish" is endangered

After just about a year of deliberation, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced this week that it would specifically protect the Tanzanian population of coelacanths as a “threatened” species under the ESA. As I wrote last March, population estimates for this distinct population are quite small—between 230 and 650 fish. They also don’t have much natural protection, unlike the coelacanths that swim around the Comoro Islands and South Africa, which can hide from fishermen and other threats in deepwater caves.