(ORDO News) — A lungfish named Methuselah, which lives at Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, is the oldest fish kept in captivity.
Methuselah arrived in the United States in 1938 on a ship from Australia. Scientists believe it is a female, although they are not entirely sure.
It was initially given the unofficial title of the oldest fish in captivity back in 2017, when experts estimated its age at 84 years. However, later tests showed that Methuselah is even older than previously thought – at least 92 years old and up to 101.
Lungfish are one of the most interesting fish species on Earth, and they are different from most other species. In addition, they have the largest genome of all known animals – 43 billion base pairs. This is about 14 times more than the number of pairs in humans.
“The genetics are really quite simple for ordinary fish, but for lungfish they are so unique and so different from each other that all of these methods failed,” David T. Roberts, a senior scientist at Seqwater, told The Guardian. “He’s always pushing the envelope, revealing some of his secrets—to be able to control it and keep it, and age is a really important factor.”
Steinhart Aquarium staff describe Methuselah as a happy, contented fish, but scientists are curious to know if she actually feels old compared to younger fish. It’s hard to say, but some experts believe that older fish do have some telltale signs – spinal changes, weight loss, cloudy eyes and even graying of scales. However, none of them have yet been observed in Methuselah.
“We don’t know if it’s really related to her age,” the aquarium director said of Methuselah’s slight color change over the years. “But that’s the only thing we’ve seen physically that’s different from this fish.”
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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