The animal was on the cover of a magazine in 2016 due to its incredible old age, having been born a year before the death of Christopher Columbus.
Biologists were surprised to discover a mysterious cold-water shark thousands of kilometers from its natural habitat, according to a recent marine study. This is a Greenland shark, the oldest vertebrate on the planet, which was sighted in the tropical Caribbean Sea.
Researchers were temporarily tagging and capturing tiger sharks off the coast of Belize when they encountered this enigmatic shark, according to a recent paper published in the scientific journal Marine Biology.
Initially, scientists suspected it could be a sixgill shark, a dominant deep-sea predator. However, by photographing the rarely seen animal, they confirmed that it was “most likely” a Greenland shark, Science Alert reports.
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“Suddenly we saw a sluggish, sluggish creature under the surface of the water,” Devanshi Kasana, a biologist and doctoral candidate in the Predator Ecology and Conservation lab at Florida International University, reported Mashable. “It looked like something that would exist in prehistoric times.”
Greenland sharks are the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth, with a staggering lifespan of 250 to 500 years, according to the National Ocean Service.
Sharks live thousands of feet underwater in total darkness and are rarely seen or photographed, and few details are known about their incredibly long lives, Science Alert says.
In the depths of the water, they grow, move and age slowly. Their slow, energy-conserving lifestyle is an essential adaptation to the nutrient-poor deep sea.
Finding a Greenland shark near a coral reef off Belize was unexpected but plausible. These dark sharks thrive in the deep seas of the Arctic and may inhabit other deep ocean regions, including the Caribbean.
Greenland sharks are primarily scavengers, eating everything (dead or alive), including fish, seals, polar bears and whales, Science Alert says.
The oldest animal on earth
The Greenland shark, famous for its incredible longevity, made headlines in 2016 due to its astonishing age. It is estimated that this animal was born in 1505, a year before the death of Christopher Columbus.
This shark grows slowly, increasing approximately 1 centimeter per year, and the specimen sighted measures 550 centimeters, making it an exceptional find.
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To determine its age, the researchers used a mathematical model that analyzed the shark’s lens and cornea. The eyes of 28 accidentally captured females were examined for this purpose.
Of the 28 Greenland sharks analyzed, they were found to be between 272 and 512 years old, with an average life expectancy of 392 years. It was estimated that the shark seen could be up to 518 years old.
The carbon tests used have a margin of error of 120 years, suggesting that in the worst case scenario, the shark would be approximately 395 years old.
In addition to its extraordinary age, the new study revealed fascinating facts: the shark does not reach sexual maturity until it is 150 years old, highlighting the importance of protecting it from fishing to prevent its extinction.
Understanding how these animals live so many years without developing cancer or other diseases could provide valuable answers to delay human aging.
The Greenland shark, a cold-blooded animal, has few offspring and lives in the Arctic Ocean, where low temperatures considerably slow down cellular activity.
In these same waters lived Ming, a clam from Iceland who was 507 years old at the time of his death.
