Friday 28 September 2012

Animals with longest life span


Intersting facts about animals


1.  TURRITOPSIS
 A Jellyfish named "Turritopsis" lives forever as per survey conducted.








2. KOI

Koi are an ornamental, domesticated variety of the common carp. The are common in artificial rock pools and decorative ponds. Amazingly, some varieties are capable of living more than 200 years. The oldest known koi was Hanako, a fish that died at the age of 226 on July 7, 1977.






3. Ocean quahog
The ocean quahog (Arctic island) is a species of clam that is exploited commercially.Researchers have interpreted the dark concentric rings or bands on the shell as annual marks, much like a tree has rings. Some collected specimens have been calculated to be more than 400 years old.






        









4. Antarctic sponge
Perhaps due to the extremely low temperatures of the Antarctic Ocean, this immobile creature has an extremely slow growth rate. Some estimate the oldest known specimens are 1,550 years old.







5. Lamellibrachia tube worms
These colorful deep sea creatures are tube worms (L. luymesi) that live along hydrocarbon vents on the ocean floor. They have been known to live 170 years, but many scientists believe there may be some that have lived for more than 250 years.








6. Red sea urchins
The red sea urchin or Strongy locentrotus Franciscans is found only in the Pacific Ocean, primarily along the West Coast of North America. It lives in shallow, sometimes rocky, waters from the low-tide line down to to 90 meters, but they stay out of extremely wavy areas. They crawl along the ocean floor using their spines as stilts. If you discover one, remember to respect your elders — some specimens are more than 200 years old.






7. Bowhead whales
Also known as the Arctic whale, the bowhead is by far the longest living mammal on Earth. Some bowhead whales have been found with the tips of  ivory spears still lodged in their flesh from failed attempts by whalers 200 years ago. The oldest known bowhead whale was at least 211 years old.