Scientists have concluded that an 81-year-old fish caught off the coast of Western Australia is the oldest fish living on a tropical reef.
The midnight snapper (Macolor macularis) was found at Rowley Shoal, about 298 kilometers west of the town of Broome, in 2016 in a study that changed researchers’ understanding of tropical fish longevity. A 79-year-old pink sea bass captured at Rowley Shoal in 1997 was also included in this study. Both fish are 20 years older than the previous record.
“The oldest fish we’ve found in shallow tropical waters is around 60 years old,” said Dr Brett Taylor, a biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences who led the study. “We have identified two different species that can live to be over 80 years old.”
The study, published Nov. 20 in the journal Coral Reefs, focused on four sites along the coast of Western Australia as well as the Chagó Islands in the central Indian Ocean. Scientists looked at three species that had not been caught in the region: pink sea bass (Lutjanus bohar), midnight snapper (Macolor macularis), and black-and-white snapper (Macolor niger).
The team of biologists identified 11 individuals over the age of 60, using their eardrums to calculate the exact age. This bone contains countable annual growth rings similar to tree rings. The record snapper is said to have been born in 1935, while the pink sea bass would have hatched at the start of World War I.
“He got through the Great Depression and World War II. He saw the Beatles take over the world. It’s amazing for a fish that has lived on the reef for 80 years,” said Dr Taylor. According to him, the study will help marine biologists determine how climate change affects the growth and longevity of fish.
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