coelacanthLatimeria chalumnaecoe·la·canth (s??l?-k?nth?)n. Any of various mostly extinct lobe-finned fishes of the group Coelacanthiformes or Actinistia, known only in fossil form until a living species, Latimeria chalumnae, was identified in 1938. A second Latimeria species was described in 1999.[New Latin Coelacanthus, former genus name : Greek koilos, hollow; see -coel + Greek akantha, spine (in reference to the hollow spines of the fins).]coe?la·can?thine? (-k?n?th?n?, -th?n) adj.coe?la·can?thous (-th?s) adj.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.coelacanth (?si?l??kæn?) n (Animals) a primitive marine bony fish of the genus Latimeria (subclass Crossopterygii), having fleshy limblike pectoral fins and occurring off the coast of E Africa: thought to be extinct until a living specimen was discovered in 1938[C19: from New Latin coelacanthus, literally: hollow spine, from coel- + Greek akanthos spine]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014coe?la?canth (?si l??kæn?) n. a heavy, hollow-spined fish, Latimeria chalumnae, of deep S African coastal seas, that crawls on the sea bottom with lobed, limblike fins: a living fossil of the order Crossopterygii, considered forerunners of the land vertebrates. [1860?65;