Scientists have estimated the coeladanth species is 380 million years old.

 The 1.7-meter-long specimen, which weighs 85 kilograms with its organs removed, was caught off Tanzania in 2005 and donated to the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

 The "missing link" fish is undergoing treatment at Yoshida Biological Laboratory, in Yamashina Ward,Kyoto, to ensure its permanent preservation before joining the exhibition, which is coorganized by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others.

 The work has involved encasing the fish in a supportive plaster cast while its body liquids were replaced with preserving resin.