Close tetrapod relationships of the coelacanth Latimeria indicated by haemoglobin sequences

The origin of tetrapods has been debated for many years. In traditional systematics, the extinct lobe-finned bony fish (Rhipidistia) are regarded as the closest relatives of tetrapods. Among living fish, the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae (Actinistia), which is the only recent representative of the Crossopterygii (Actinistia and Rhipidistia), the lungfish (Dipnoi) and ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii), have each been considered as sister-groups of the tetrapods. We have now determined the sequence of the alpha- and beta-globin chains of coelacanth haemoglobin and compared them with all known haemoglobins of bony and cartilaginous fish as well as those of tadpoles and adult amphibians. Haemoglobins of bony fish match more closely those of larval than adult amphibians. The beta chains of Latimeria match those of tadpoles more closely (54%) than do those of any other fish, whereas the alpha chains of Latimeria (45.4%), and especially of teleosts (49.2%), are closer to those of larval amphibians than are those of lungfish (39.8%). If only synapomorphous sequence matches (those at derived positions shared by one bony fish and tadpoles but not by any other bony fish) are considered, both Latimeria globin chains have distinctly more identities with phase of tadpoles than do those of any bony fish. Thus the primary structure of Latimeria haemoglobin indicates that the coelacanth is the closest living relative of tetrapods.