Above: coelacanths were assumed to be extinct for 66 million years
Illustration by Catmando.
Left: Latimeria menadoensis featured on an Indonesian stamp.
Below: 1. Location of Siren reticulata captured in 2009 by D. Steen and
M. Baragona. 2. The type locality of Siren reticulata, Walton County,
Florida. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207460.g001
Sirens (family Sirenidae) are likely to have diverged from
the remainder of the salamanders early in their evolution,
and have a distinctive general morphology, with an eel-
like body completely lacking hind limbs and eyelids,
reduced forelimbs and feathery external gills. Once
widely distributed through the Americas and Africa, the
five extant species (including S. reticulata) are now
confined to the southeastern United States and northeast-
ern Mexico. Sirens are wholly aquatic and have reduced
dentition; they feed upon invertebrate prey and algae,
1.
being amongst the very few amphibians to be partly
herbivorous. They are able to survive prolonged drought
by burrowing into mud and coating themselves with
mucus, and the males have been demonstrated to be active
in parental care, constructing crude nests and guarding the
eggs. Sirens may be locally abundant, and the largest
species, the Greater Siren (S. lacerta) may reach nearly
one metre in total length.
For decades, rumours have circulated of a ‘Leopard Eel’
2.