Canadian researchers have discovered a new species of Triassic coelacanth, a fish presumed extinct until a population was found off the coast of Africa in the 1930s, while digging through a trove of museum fossils.

Coelacanths, an ancient group of fishes once thought to be long extinct, made headlines in 1938 when one of their modern relatives was caught off the coast of South Africa.

A team of marine researchers from Japan reported on Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth -- a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" -- in deep water off Indonesia.

Japanese researchers say they've used CT scans to see the eggs inside a coelacanth, a prehistoric fish that was once considered extinct. The Tokyo Institute of Technology said the ancient species is of great interest because it is thought to represent an early step in the evolution of fish to amphibians, Kyodo News Service reported Friday.

By Perkins, Sid 'Resurrections' of long-missing species lead to revelations In December 1938, Marjorie Courtney-Latimer, curator of a natural history museum in East London, South Africa, went to the docks to look for interesting specimens among the day's catch.