A Greenland shark slowly swimming away from the zodiac, returning to the deep and cold waters of the Uummannaq Fjord in northwestern Greenland. The sharks were part of a tag-and-release program in Norway and Greenland to identify the Greenland Shark lifespan.Credit: Julius Nielsen

Greenland shark lifespan is at least as long as 400 years, and they reach sexual maturity at the age of about 150, a new study reports. The results place Greenland sharks as the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth. Also, the sharks can hold the key to recovery, when devastation strikes the ocean. However, one of the most enigmatic sea creatures is the Greenland shark due to its lifespan.

The Greenland shark

The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is widely distributed across the North Atlantic, with adults reaching lengths of 400 to 500 centimeters (13 to 16 feet).

The biology of the Greenland shark is poorly understood, yet their extremely slow growth rates, at about 1 cm per year, hint that these fish benefit from exceptional longevity.

Traditional methods for determining the age of a species involve analyzing calcified tissue, a feature that’s sparse in Greenland sharks. Therefore, to determine the average age of this species, Julius Nielsen et al. applied radiocarbon dating techniques to the eye lenses of 28 females caught as by-catch.

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Their analysis suggests an average lifespan of at least 272 years.

The two largest sharks in this study, at 493 cm and 502 cm in length, were estimated to be roughly 335 and 392 years old, respectively. [note ed.] That is much longer than true age of whale sharks.

What’s more, since previous reports suggest that females of this species reach sexual maturity at lengths greater than 400 cm, the corresponding age would be at least 156 years old, the authors say.

Based on these results, the Greenland shark is now the oldest-known vertebrate to roam the Earth.

Under the Water Gallery

Definitely this beautiful Greenland Shark is the deep sea fish. Some of the pictures below were taken over a 800 m deep.

Greenland Shark Photo by Olga Tsai via Unsplash
Greenland Shark Photo by Olga Tsai via Unsplash
Greenland Shark Source World Register of Marine Species Author H. Dupond in Poll 1947 naar Bonaparte
A Greenland shark. This was the largest fish encountered during the Northeast U.S. Canyons Expedition Image ID: expl9984 Voyage To Inner Space Exploring the Seas With NOAA Collection

Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science


Sharks are amazing creatures, yet sharks almost gone from many reefs and other places traditionally perceived as their natural environment. A massive global study of the world’s reefs has found sharks are functionally extinct on nearly one in five of the reefs surveyed.