Old fish turns 65, even older fish in Chicago
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It turns out 65-year-old Methuselah, a lungfish pictured here on Tuesday in San Francisco, is not the oldest fish in captivity after all.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Rome may be the Eternal City, but San Francisco could be home to an eternal fish.
On Tuesday, aquarium officials at the Steinhart Aquarium honored an Australian lungfish, Methuselah, who arrived at the aquarium in 1938 as a fully grown adult. That makes it at least 65 years old.
Aquarium officials had said Methuselah was the oldest fish in captivity, but learned they were mistaken Wednesday. The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago has a lungfish, Granddad, that arrived as an adult in 1933.
"Well, I'll be darned. No kidding!" said John McCosker, Steinhart's emeritus director, who said he planned to send a note of apology to Shedd.
The Australian lungfish is rare even in its native waters. An eel-like fish with large scales, lungfish are thought by scientists to be the "missing link" between fish and amphibians because they also breathe air.
Methuselah, who is 3 feet long and weighs about 40 pounds, is known for its sly grin.
"It probably comes from the wisdom of the ages," McCosker said.
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