The oldest-known aquarium fish tanked at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco Bay Area for the past 85 years is 92 years, announced the California Academy of Sciences in September. A cutting-edge DNA analysis found the age of the female Australian lungfish, Methuselah.
The analysis was led by researchers of two Australia-based government agencies.
The 4-foot long, 40-pound Methuselah, named after the oldest person mentioned in the Bible, came at the aquarium via a Matson Navigation Company shipping liner in 1938. The fish earned its name ‘lungfish,’ as it distinguishes itself from most fish by its ability to respire air without relying on gills – an adaptation that shows its resilience and evolutionary significance.
The Australian lungfish is designated as a vulnerable species in its native habitat. The Government of Australia underlies its importance as the last surviving member of a fish family that has endured since the era of dinosaurs, with fossil records tracing its existence back 100 million years. This unique fish species also boasts substantial size, typically weighing around 88 pounds.
