Your goldfish could never.
Researchers have captured the oldest known tropical reef fish ever caught. It was found off of the coast of Western Australia. A study, published last month in the journal "Coral Reefs," indicated that a 2016 excursion led to capturing the 81-year-old midnight snapper, the Guardian reports.
The elderly fish broke a record previously held by a fish that was 20 years younger. They also caught a 79-year-old red bass. The fish were found at Rowley Shoals.
"Until now, the oldest fish that we've found in shallow, tropical waters have been around 60 years old," says Brett Taylor, a fish biologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. "We've identified two different species here that are becoming octogenarians, and probably older."
The study used red bass, midnight snapper, and black and white snapper to determine how changes in length and age among fish can help them see how they are reacting to warmer water temperatures due to climate change.
A total of 11 fish found were older than 60 years of age.
Many of these fish are being targeted by commercial and recreational fishers, the Guardian reports. "A lot of these snapper species that are commercially harvested are 40, 50, and 60 years old that people are buying. There's a serious history to some of these," Taylor says.
Additionally, Taylor stresses the importance of focusing on climate change. "We talk about climate change being something in the future, but these 80-year-old fish saw a tremendous uptake of temperature [in the ocean] in their life spans.
The 81-year-old midnight snapper was several years away from the second world war when it was born.
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