Sorry for the weird question, but I'm reading a memory written by Marjorie Latimer and she report that when showed the first coleacanth to the director of the muesum in which she worked, he told that the fish was only a big "Rock Cod".
The white-blotched grouper, Epinephelus multinotatus (Peters 1876) may reach to total length of 100 cm, and superficially resembles the coelacanth, having a similar colour pattern with scattered white spots on a dark blue or gray background. The species is known from the western Indian Ocean, reaching south at least to southern Mozambique.
Reference:
Heemstra, P. C. and J. E. Randall 1993. Groupers of the World (Family Serranidae, Subfamily Epinephelinae); an annotated and illustrated catalogue of the grouper, rockcod, hind, coral grouper and lyretail species known to date. FAO Species Catalog 16. Rome. i-viii + 1-382, Pls. 1-31.
none. the external and internal morphology of the coelacanth is unique, and radically different to anything you might see in and on any other bony fish. so i trust the director of the museum was more knowledgeable about antelopes and elephants :)
Lorenzo, I believe the first coelacanth was misidentified as a rock cod due to the complete unexpected possibility of correct identification. Coelacanths are really unique and I agree with Gilles, but at that time the occurrence of a living coelacanth was simply unthinkable.
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