The shortraker
rockfish (Sebastes borealis) is found in deep waters of the
North …
In 1813, President James
Madison occupied the White House, Americans occupied Fort George in
Canada (a result of the War of 1812) and a rockfish was born
somewhere in the North Pacific.
Two hundred years
later, that same rockfish was caught off the coast of Alaska by
Seattle resident Henry Liebman — possibly setting a record for the
oldest rockfish ever landed.
Troy Tydingco of
the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told theDaily Sitka
Sentinel that the longevity record for the shortraker
rockfish (Sebastes borealis) is 175 years, but that fish
"was quite a bit smaller than the one Henry caught."
"That fish was
32-and-a-half inches [83 centimeters] long, where Henry's was
almost 41 inches [104 cm] — so his could be substantially older,"
Tydingco said.
Samples of the
rockfish have been sent to a lab in Juneau, where the actual age of
Liebman's fish will be determined, according to the Sentinel.
Scientists can
estimate the age of a fish by examining an ear bone known as the
otolith, which contains growth rings similar to the annual age
rings found in a tree trunk.
Animal
longevity remains a puzzle to biologists. Some researchers
have found that smaller individuals within a species tend to live
longer than their bigger brethren. This may be due to the abnormal
cell growth that accompanies both larger body size and the risk of
cancer.
The longest-lived
animal ever found was a quahog clam scooped from the
waters off Iceland. The tiny mollusk was estimated to be 400 years
old.
At 39.08 pounds
(17.73 kilograms), Liebman's fish may also set a record for the
largest rockfish ever caught.
"I knew it was
abnormally big, [but I] didn't know it was a record until on the
way back — we looked in the Alaska guidebook that was on the boat,"
Liebman told the Sentinel.
He plans to have
the fish mounted, so he can continue to tell the fish story
that he's already been "getting a lot of mileage" out of, according
to the Sentinel.