Slashdot Mirror
Red Sea Urchins Nearly Immortal
varjag writes "A study by scientists from Oregon State University and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have revealed that Red Sea urchins are practically immortal. While they can die from diseases or predator attacks, it seems that their life span has no biological limit. Specimen as old as 100 and 200 years have been discovered, while previously they were expected to last no longer than 7-15 years."
CORVALLIS, Ore. - A new study has concluded that the red sea urchin, a small spiny invertebrate that lives in shallow coastal waters, is among the longest living animals on Earth - they can live to be 100 years old, and some may reach 200 years or more in good health with few signs of age.
The red sea urchin appears to be one of the longest living animals on Earth, with a possible lifespan of up to 200 years, according to a new study by marine zoologists at Oregon State University. (Photo by Richard Strathmann, Friday Harbor Laboratory)
In other words, an individual red sea urchin that hatched on the day in 1805 that Lewis and Clark arrived in Oregon may still be thriving - and even breeding. The research was just published in a professional journal, the U.S. Fishery Bulletin, by scientists from Oregon State University and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It may have important implications for management of a commercial fishery and our understanding of marine biology, as well as challenge some erroneous assumptions about the life cycle of this never-say-die marine species.
It used to be believed that red sea urchins lived to be only seven to 15 years of age, experts say. But the newest findings are based on the use of two completely different techniques of determining sea urchin ages - one biochemical and the other nuclear - that produced the same results. The studies show red sea urchins can have a vast lifespan surpassing that of virtually all terrestrial and most marine animal species, and seem to show almost no signs of senescence, or age-related dysfunction, right up until the day that something kills them.
"No animal lives forever, but these red sea urchins appear to be practically immortal," said Thomas Ebert, a marine zoologist at OSU. "They can die from attacks by predators, specific diseases or being harvested by fishermen. But even then they show very few signs of age. The evidence suggests that a 100-year-old red sea urchin is just as apt to live another year, or reproduce, as a 10-year-old sea urchin."
The more mature red sea urchins, in fact, appear to be the most prolific producers of sperm and eggs, and are perfectly capable of breeding even when incredibly old. There is no sea urchin version of menopause.
Some of the new studies on this species were done with funding support from the Pacific States Fishery Commission to gain more information about the species, its life cycle, biology, survival rate, growth patterns, and perhaps shed light on why the red sea urchin resource was declining in some areas.
This small marine animal, which is found in shallow Pacific Ocean coastal waters from Alaska to Baja California and also elsewhere in the world's oceans, lives by grazing quietly on marine plants and deterring most predators with its pointy spines. Historically, it had been considered a nuisance.
"In the U.S. in the 1960s, sea urchins were considered the scourge of the sea, a real menace," Ebert said. "They ate plants in kelp forests and people believed they were at least partly responsible for the decline of that marine ecosystem, so they tried to poison them, get rid of them however possible."
But in the 1970s a commercial fishery developed in the U.S. based on sea urchins, which were sold primarily to Japan where their sex organs were considered a delicacy. They brought high prices, and at one point in the 1990s were one of the most valuable marine resources in California.
Ebert did some early work on the red sea urchin, along with colleagues Steve Schroeter at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and John Dixon, of the California Coastal Commission. It quickly became apparent that sea urchins, among other things, grew a lot more slowly and lived a lot longer than had been believed. "Sea urchins live as male and females, and fertilization of eggs takes place while they float in the ocean," Ebert said. "The larvae then feed for a month or more before turning into tiny sea urchins."
The red sea urchin, in
CMDRTACO CHECK YOUR EMAIL!
The oldest documented human lifespan is slightly over 120 years. That's nowhere near 200. Moreover, from the article (emphasis mine):
Note the bolded part. You can't find me even one 80-year old human with few signs of age...
I know god exists. I read it on the internet, so it must be true.
Lobsters also show no signs of senescence. Just disease and predation limit their lifespans.
They can move, on hundreds of tiny little tube feet.
"I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
Micheal Jackson already has a lab full of these creatures being studied, in his quest for immortality
Shouldn't that be immorality?
Laugh while you can, monkey-boy!