Longevity Secrets from the Five Longest-Lived Marine Animals 五大最長壽海洋動物的長壽秘訣

艾莉森·蓋伊 譯/張燕

Feeling stressed out by the frantic pace of modern life？ Meet five ocean-going animals who have mastered the art of slow living—so slow， in fact， that they’re among the oldest creatures on earth. From raising helpful sons to evading predators with snot （yes， snot）， learn about the strategies these longevity champions use to stay alive.

5. “Granny” the Orca

Claim to fame： Oldest orca

Age： 104 years

Longevity secret： Family life

In killer whale society， mother really does know best. A matriarch， usually the oldest female， leads a family pod consisting of her sons， her daughters， and her daughter’s offspring. “Granny，” the leader of the J pod—an extended family of whales that roam the coastline from Alaska to California—may be the oldest matriarch of them all. Based on the age of her offspring， researchers estimate that Granny has been around for 104 years.

Part of Granny’s secret could be her species’ peaceful， family-focused life. Throughout their entire lives， male orcas remain so intensely bonded to their mothers that they swim only a body length away from her more than 40 percent of the time. These enormous but gentle momma’s boys help out around the pod by looking after their younger relatives， giving the matriarch more time and energy to feed， rest， and reproduce.

Blessed with helpful sons and the second-biggest brain of any marine mammal， female orcas like Granny may simply be healthier and happier than their counterparts in less-peaceful animal societies.

4. Bowhead Whale

Claim to fame： Oldest mammal

Age： Over 200 years

Longevity secret： Stay healthy

In 2007， Inupiat hunters in Alaska found an antique harpoon head lodged in the blubber of a recently killed bowhead whale. That particular brand of harpoon hadn’t been manufactured since 1885—indicating that the whale had survived a whaler’s attack in Victorian times and gone on to live for another 130 years.

Since then， dating of the amino acids in bowhead eyes has revealed that they can live to be over 200 years old， making them the longest-lived mammal by about a factor of two.

These whales not only attain great age， but they remain disease-free until much later in their lives than humans do. Curious as to how they manage this feat， researchers sequenced the bowhead genome and discovered changes in their DNA? related to cancer， aging， and cell repair. This suggests that these sprightly cetaceans have evolved special resistance to age-related disease and decline.

3. Orange Roughy

Claim to fame： Among the oldest marine fishes

Age： 157 years

Longevity secret： Avoid predators

The orange roughy， a reddish-orange fish that dwells 500 to 6，000 feet below the sea’s surface， takes its sweet time growing and maturing. They only start to reproduce between 20 and 40 years of age， but can live to be older than 150 years.

Before getting a rebrand to appeal to human customers， orange roughy used to be called “slimeheads” for an obvious reason： they exude mucus from channels on their heads and bodies. Gross as it sounds， these slimy organs actually detect tiny changes in water pressure， helping orange roughy excel at the art of predator avoidance.

Unfortunately， orange roughy aren’t able to avoid fishing nets.

Throughout most of their range， they’ve been severely overfished. Since they take so long to grow and reproduce， it may be decades before their populations can recover. The deep-sea trawling equipment that’s used to catch them also bulldozes corals and scoops up many non-target species， making this fishery doubly unsustainable.

Rather than eating orange roughy， it’s better to choose sustainable seafood and admire slimeheads where they belong： peacefully growing old a mile below the waves.

2. “Ming” the Ocean Quahog

Claim to fame： Oldest animal （verified）

Age： 507 years

Longevity secret： Stay young at heart

Pity poor Ming. Born sometime during the Ming Dynasty， this ocean quahog met its end when researchers were dredging the seabed in North Iceland. By counting its growth bands and dating the carbon in its shell， scientists determined that this clam settled onto the seafloor approximately 507 years ago.

Ming， and other long-lived clams like it， continue to grow but don’t appear to grow old—the bivalve equivalent of a 90-year-old human with the body and mind of a 20-year-old.

1. Antarctic Sponge

Claim to fame： Oldest animal （unverified）

Age： 15，000 years

Longevity secret： Take things slow

Snow-white and shaped like a beer barrel， one individual of the Antarctic sponge species Anoxycalyx joubini may be the oldest living animal yet discovered—by a long shot. Taking into account its size and the average growth rate of its species， one researcher calculated that this enormous specimen could be up to 15，000 years old.

Just how old is 15，000 years？ When this sponge was just a baby， wooly mammoths still roamed the world， humans had yet to colonize the Americas beyond northern Canada， and the basins that would become the Great Lakes were still almost entirely buried beneath a miles-thick ice sheet.

Even at half its estimated age， Anoxycalyx joubini would still be the oldest animal on earth， and among the oldest of all organisms， period. By contrast， the famous bristlecone pines in California live a measly 5，000 years.

瘋狂的現代生活節奏令你壓力山大？來認識一下五種掌握了慢生活藝術的海洋動物——它們的生活節奏如此之慢，令它們得以躋身最長壽的地球生物之列。從養育兒子來幫助自己，到靠鼻涕（是的，鼻涕！）躲避掠食者，來學學這些長壽冠軍延續生命的策略吧。

5. 虎鯨“老奶奶”

成名原因：最長壽的虎鯨

年齡：104歲

長壽秘訣：家庭生活

在殺人鯨（虎鯨）的世界，媽媽最博學。女族長通常是年紀最大的雌鯨，帶領著由兒子、女兒及女兒的后代組成的大家族。殺人鯨族群中的J家族足跡遍布自阿拉斯加至加利福尼亞海岸線，其頭領“老奶奶”可能是年紀最大的族群首領。根據她后代們的年齡推算，研究人員認為她的年紀在104歲左右。

“老奶奶”的長壽秘訣可能部分源于這一種群以家庭為核心的平靜生活方式。雄鯨一生中超過40%的時間都與母親形影不離，就在與其母距離僅一個身位的范圍內活動。這些體形巨大但性情溫柔的“媽寶男”幫助照顧比他們年幼的親人，讓女族長有更多時間和精力進食、休息和繁殖。

依靠兒子們的幫助以及自身擁有的海洋哺乳動物中第二大的大腦，像“老奶奶”這樣的雌性虎鯨得以比不那么和平的動物社群中的那些同儕生活得更健康、更快樂。

4. 弓頭鯨

成名原因：最長壽的哺乳動物

年齡：超過200歲

長壽秘訣：保持健康

2007年，阿拉斯加的因紐特獵手們在一頭剛剛被獵殺的弓頭鯨的鯨脂內發現了一枚古老的魚叉頭。這個牌子的魚叉自1885年起就不再生產了，由此表明，這頭鯨魚扛過了維多利亞時代那一波捕鯨人的獵捕后又活了130年。

從那時起，科學家開始對弓頭鯨眼中的氨基酸進行年代測定，結果表明，它們可以活到200歲以上，這使它們成為壽命最長的哺乳動物，大約是哺乳動物平均壽命的兩倍。

這些鯨魚不僅長壽，而且一生中保持身體完全健康的時間遠超人類。它們是如何做到這一點的？出于好奇，研究人員對弓頭鯨的基因組進行了測序，發現了與癌癥、衰老和細胞修復有關的DNA變化。這表明，生機勃勃的弓頭鯨已進化出特殊能力對抗與年齡相關的疾病及衰弱。

3. 長壽魚（橙連鰭鮭）

成名原因：最長壽的海洋魚類之一

年齡：157歲

長壽秘訣：避開捕食者

長壽魚身體呈橙紅色，在海平面以下500至6000英尺的區域生活，充分享受成長和成熟的好時光。它們在20歲到40歲之間才開始繁殖后代，卻可以活到150歲以上。

在被重新命名以吸引人類顧客之前，長壽魚曾被稱為“黏頭魚”，原因顯而易見：它們會從頭部和身體的凹縫處分泌出黏液。盡管聽起來很惡心，但實際上這些黏糊糊的器官能夠監測水壓的細微變化，助其在躲避捕食者方面表現出色。

不幸的是，長壽魚無法躲避漁網。

長壽魚在生活的大部分地區都遭遇到嚴重的過度捕撈。由于它們需要很長時間來生長和繁殖，它們的數量可能要數十年才能恢復。用于捕捉它們的深海拖網設備在捕撈時還會推平珊瑚礁，鏟起許多并非捕撈目標的物種——這種漁業方式因而更加不可持續。

與其吃長壽魚，不如選擇食用那些可持續增長的海鮮，同時尊重棘鯛科魚類的生存方式：在海浪以下1英里的地方安然老去。

2. 海洋圓蛤“明”

成名原因：最長壽的動物（已證實）

年齡：507歲

長壽秘訣：保持心態年輕

“明”實在可憐。這只海洋圓蛤出生于中國明朝年間，卻在研究人員疏浚冰島北部海床時遭遇滅頂之災。通過計量其外殼生長紋的數量及測算外殼中所含碳元素的年代，科學家們確定，這只圓蛤大約在507年前就在海底定居了。

明，以及其他同樣長壽的蛤蜊，可持續生長卻似乎不會變老——這一雙殼貝相當于擁有20歲年輕人身心的90歲老人。

1. 南極海綿

成名原因：最長壽的動物（未證實）

年齡：15000歲

長壽秘訣：慢生活

通體潔白如雪，形如啤酒桶——南極海綿極有可能是迄今發現的最古老的存活動物，這一物種名為“火山海綿”。根據這一個體的大小和該物種的平均生長速度，一位研究人員計算出，這個巨大樣本的年齡可能高達15000歲。

15000歲到底有多老？當這個海綿還是嬰兒時，長毛猛犸象仍在世界各地游蕩，美洲的人類還只生活在加拿大北部地區，而今天五大湖區形成前的那些盆地還幾乎完全埋沒在數英里厚的冰蓋下。

哪怕實際年齡只有估計的一半，這種海綿無疑仍是地球上最長壽的動物，也絕對位居最長壽生物之列。相比之下，著名的加利福尼亞狐尾松的壽命不過區區5000年。