The oldest fish in any aquarium in the world is here in SF at the California Academy of Sciences’ Steinhart Aquarium, whose biologists just figured out the fish’s age. That said, they still don’t know its gender.
If you’ve ever been to the California Academy of Sciences’ Steinhart Aquarium, you may have seen their Australian lungfish named Methuselah, whom they describe as the “World’s oldest living aquarium fish.” But the museum has never actually known Methuselah’s age, merely estimating that the fish is “likely well over 90” years old. Yet now, as the Chronicle reports, the Academy has done DNA testing to determine this very old fish's age, and according to a Monday morning announcement from the aquarium, biologists have “estimated Methuselah’s age to be 92 (± 9 years).”
That means this lungfish could be more than 100 years old, possibly 101. And as you can see in the video below, the old fish is still quite affectionate, and enjoys petting and belly rubs from humans.
“Although we know Methuselah came to us in the late 1930s, there was no method for determining her age at that time, so it’s incredibly exciting to get science-based information on her actual age,” Steinhart Aquarium curator of aquarium projects Charles Delbeek said in the announcement. “Methuselah is an important ambassador for her species, helping to educate and stoke curiosity in visitors from all over the world.”
While the aquarium acquired Methuselah in 1938, they’ve never known the fish’s age until now. Taking a DNA sample was always considered too risky for the fish’s health, but a few marine biologists in Australia have developed a newer and safer technique. Those biologists then collected DNA samples from 30 lungfish at six separate institutions, and sure enough, Methuselah proved to be the oldest.
So the Academy of Sciences now has a pretty good ballpark figure on Methuselah’s age, though oddly, they don’t know the fish’s gender. Staff informally refer to Methuselah as a “she,” though making that determination would require a blood draw, which could be too hazardous to this venerable fish’s health.
You can behold Methuselah at the California Academy of Sciences’ Steinhart Aquarium, Mondays through Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. And keep in mind that Friday, September 29 is a “pay-what-you-can” day, in honor of the aquarium’s 100th anniversary.
Image via California Academy of Sciences
