Coelacanth, SEE luh kanth, is a primitive type of fish found in the Indian Ocean. Some coelacanth fossils date from more than 300 million years ago. Scientists believed these fish had been extinct for 80 million years until a coelacanth was caught off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Since then, many more coelacanths have been caught. Coelacanths are members of an ancient group of fishes known as sarcopterygians. Lungfishes are the only other surviving members of this group. See Fish.