It sounds completely absurd, but yes, the Greenland shark lives to be several hundred years old.
It is known that very old animals exist in the world's oceans. But a shark that's almost 400 years old? This is what some users are currently asking themselves when they stumble upon the following status post on Facebook:

This is a 392 year old Greenland Shark that was recently discovered in the Arctic Ocean. He's been wandering the ocean since 1627! Photo by Julius Nielsen.
See more of some of the oldest animals in existence here: …
The fact check
Yes, this shark exists! The Greenland shark – or ice shark – is probably the longest-lived vertebrate in the world.
Radiocarbon dating of the eye crystals of these fish, which are up to five meters long, determined a minimum age of 400 years. However, this species grows and develops extremely slowly: females only become sexually mature at 156 +/- 22 years of age.
However, Greenland sharks have hardly been researched yet because they are rarely seen. The first film recordings were not made until 1998.
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Since the skeleton of these ice sharks consists entirely of cartilage, a common age determination is not possible. Danish researchers are therefore using the crystallized proteins in the lenses of the fish's eyes for radiocarbon dating:
“These tissues contain crystals that were formed shortly before birth.”
The result: an immature, 2.20 meter long specimen was older than 50 years according to its eye crystals. Two females, around 5 meters long, were at least 335 to 392 years old - but according to the researchers, they could possibly be significantly older.
So these fish need more than a century before they even become adults and live in slow motion, so to speak. The only known animal that can live even longer is the Icelandic mussel, at around 500 years old.
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However, the slow development could be fatal for Greenland sharks if they end up in fishermen's nets as bycatch. They cannot make up for these losses so quickly. The Arctic shark is classified as “Near Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
“Our results raise concerns about the conservation status of this species,”
said Julius Nielsen from the University of Copenhagen and his colleagues.
“A precautionary approach to protection efforts is strongly recommended here.”
Further links: Science, 2016; doi: 10.1126/science.aaf1703 )
You might also be interested in: The Mediterranean is the most dangerous place for sharks!
Sources: World , scinexx
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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )

