Coelacanth in popular culture

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"Relicanth" created by Ken Sugimori.
"Relicanth" created by Ken Sugimori.

The coelacanth's widely-published status as a "living fossil" caught the popular imagination to the extent that the coelacanth figures in popular culture. The fish figures in numerous video games and various media.

  • In Margaret Atwood's novel "Oryx and Crake", the coelacanth is used as a symbol for the underground scientific association Extinctathon.
  • Minature Armored vehicles, in the game "X-COM: Terror from the Deep" are refered to as coelacanth.
  • In the arcade game Darius, a boss is called "King Fossil," and resembles a coelacanth.[1]
  • In the video games Animal Crossing and Animal Crossing: Wild World, the player has the option to fish. The coelacanth is one of the game's many fish, and is also the rarest ocean fish. An objective includes catching a coelacanth for a local museum.[2]
  • The Darius videogame series by Taito features coelacanths prominently. The majority of the bosses in the series are giant spaceships modeled after various forms of marine life, and the coelacanth appears as at least three separate bosses throughout the series: King Fossil, Queen Fossil and Emperor Fossil. The most well known of the three is the original King Fossil, which is the first boss the player encounters in the original Darius.
  • In Skies of Arcadia, a discovery named 'Ancient Fish' is clearly based on the coelacanth.
  • A Transformer and member of the Seacons, Skalor, has an alternate mode modeled after a coelacanth.
  • Popular Japanese band Mr. Children have a track named "Coelacanth" on their Shinkai album (1996).
  • In Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Preston Whitmore keeps a pair of coelacanths in an aquarium, approximately 20 years before they were officially discovered.
  • The British band You and the Atomb Bomb have a track named "Beyond Coelacanth" on their 2006 mini-album Shake, Shake Hello.
  • In the video game SEGA Marine Fishing, the player has the ability to catch a coelacanth in the "fishing port" stage. The coelacanth is one of the most difficult fish to catch in the game. There is no specific lure that will guarantee catching this fish. One strategy is to aim to the left side of the screen near the dock using the first big splasher lure. You usually have to get other fish to chase the lure before gaining the attention of the coelacanth.
  • The coelacanth also makes a dubious cameo in the video game Half-Life, although its appearance has been distorted to make it into more of a monster.
  • In the video game E.V.O.: Search for Eden, the Coelacanth is dubbed "Coelafish" In the games primary level, where you start out as a fish in an oceanic world. It explains itself as a woeful, slow and docile creature, unable to evolve and forever doomed to remain the same. If attacked, the remains that are left grant you a negative to your experience points, health and if attacked in excess, Gaia herself scorns you for acting aggressive against such a harmless creature. You may opt to evolve your body to that of a Coelacanth' fish's tail, body and fins, but there are much stronger evolutions available.
  • The band Suns of the Tundra have a song entitled "Coelecanth Heart" on their CD Tunguska.
  • The Japanese New-Wave band Polysics has a song titled "Coelecanth is Android".
  • Coelacanth is the name of the sound art project founded by Loren Chasse and Jim Haynes. They have released a number of albums under this name; these include The Glass Sponge (2003) and Mud Wall (2004).
  • An amusing textbook on the C programming language by Peter van der Linden entitled Expert C Programming - Deep C Secrets (1994) - ISBN 0-13-177429-8 - features a Coelecanth on its cover. Since the coelecanth was a "deep sea secret" before it was discovered, its use on the cover of a book about "deep C secrets" serves as a visual pun.
  • The coelacanth has even been used to sell cars - a Volkswagen commercial once featured a customer staring dumbfounded at the full-size spare tire discovered in his trunk. Upon commenting that he thought the full-size spare had gone extinct, a nearby auto mechanic replies "That's what they said about the coelacanth".
  • In episode seven of the anime series The Big O, a coelacanth is visible swimming as Roger and Angel look into the ocean.
  • In the game Soul Calibur 2, a coelacanth can be seen swimming around the pirate ship on the Pirates' Alcove level. It will not always be seen for it circles the entire boat.
  • In addition, coelacanths have been shown on coins[4], phone cards[5], beer bottles[6], and bottle caps[7].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cyber Coelacanth URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  2. ^ "Nintendocanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  3. ^ "Relicanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  4. ^ "Coincanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  5. ^ "Phonecanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  6. ^ "Beercanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
  7. ^ "Capcanth" URL accessed January 13, 2007.
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