IT WAS a case of fish with microchips for The Continuum Group experts, as they put the finishing touches to a virtual "fossil fish".

The coelacanth, an amazing prehistoric fish, which existed more 400 million years ago deep in the ocean, and which was rediscovered in 1938 off the south-east coast of Africa, has been recreated by the York multimedia experts.

It is part of a major project for the new £6.5 million Twilight Zone extension at The Deep - Hull's award winning Millennium Commission project - set to open on March 19.

The Continuum Group, designer and multimedia producer of museums and visitor attractions based in Margaret Street, York, has produced an array of cutting edge displays for The Deep.

This new exhibition explores life in the twilight zone of the ocean, 200 to 1,000 metres below the surface where there is little oxygen, food or light, and the coelacanth is the star attraction.

Continuum has created a state of the art computer simulation of this large, very unusual 'dino fish', hailed the most important zoological find of the century - and now one of the most protected animals on earth.

This involved a complex 3D reconstruction and animation, to show how the coelacanth rotates as it swims using unique limb-like fins.

Richard Briggs, Continuum's multimedia director, said: "We recreated the coelacanth after detailed research in books and rare videos of the creature. They're rare because in a glare of lights, it behaves in a bizarre way, sort of flipping over and swimming upside down. No one knows why."

Visitors will see the prehistoric fish swimming as though in its natural environment, in the waters of one of the Twilight Zone tanks. Three large plasma screens at the back of a giant tank with rocky outcrops will display the fish.

Continuum has also produced the multimedia for The Experience Theatre that tells the story of the Twilight Zone. This involved the creation of video displays of the ocean and its fish, together with narration by Patrick Stewart - the Star Trek and X-Men actor. Other exhibits produced include: a water curtain - projection of a waterfall; Pollution Patrol - a fun, interactive animation showing the effects of sea pollution, Species ID - interactive fish identifier; Warning Lights projected on to floor tiles featuring a throbbing Attola jelly fish; and a bioluminescence interactive game showing the lights fish produce beneath the sea.

Colin Brown, chief executive of The Deep, said: "Continuum has employed the same special effects techniques used to create Hollywood blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and Spiderman and has done a brilliant job creating the perfect illusion of this 'dino fish'."

Updated: 09:27 Wednesday, March 09, 2005