Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Long in the tooth: the Greenland shark may live four centuries

Published 08/29/2016, 09:16 PM
Updated 08/29/2016, 09:16 PM
© Reuters. A Greenland shark swims away from a research boat, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland

© Reuters. A Greenland shark swims away from a research boat, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Greenland shark, a big and slow-moving deep-ocean predator that prowls the frigid waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic, can claim the distinction of being the planet's longest-living vertebrate, with a lifespan perhaps reaching about 400 years.

Its extremely sluggish growth rate, about four-tenths of a inch (1 cm) per year, had already tipped off scientists that it lived a very long time, and research published on Thursday calculated the Greenland shark's lifespan for the first time.

Danish marine biologist Julius Nielsen said radiocarbon dating that analyzed the shark's eye lens found that the oldest of 28 sharks studied was likely about 392 years old, with 95 percent certainty of an age range between 272 and 512 years.

Females astoundingly did not reach sexual maturation until they were at least 134 years old, Nielsen said.

The Greenland shark, up to about 18 feet (5.5 meters) long, is among the largest carnivorous sharks.

Nielsen, a University of Copenhagen doctoral student who led the study published in the journal Science, said the findings should bring this shark much-deserved respect.

"This species is completely overlooked, and only a few scientists in the world are working with this species," Nielsen said.

"Our findings show that even though the uncertainty is great that they should be considered the oldest vertebrate animal in the world," Nielsen added.

Nielsen said the vertebrate with the longest-known lifespan until now was the bowhead whale, topping 200 years.

Greenland sharks have a plump elongated body, round nose, relatively small dorsal fin, sandpaper-like skin and gray or blackish-brown coloration. They are slow swimmers and are nearly blind, but are capable hunters, eating fish, marine mammals and carrion.

They are known to be relatively abundant throughout the North Atlantic and Arctic, particularly from eastern Canada to western Russia. They occasionally are spotted by deep-sea robotic submarines at latitudes further south, such as in the Gulf of Mexico. They have been observed in depths down to 1.4 miles (2.2 km).

"They may widely inhabit the deep sea, potentially living anywhere water temperatures are below about 5 Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit)," said Australian Institute of Marine Science marine biologist Aaron MacNeil, who was not involved in the study.

© Reuters. A Greenland shark swims away from a research boat, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland

MacNeil said the study did an admirable job of tackling a difficult matter but questioned an element of the dating analysis and said the estimate of a roughly 392-year-old shark "seems high to me."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.