THE OLDEST FISH IN THE WORLD - From "Underwater world" magazine of 1950
"It is difficult to say with certainty until which age fishes can live. Of a small family of gudgeon fishes, the Aphya pellucida, we know that they live only one year. Until now, extensive research made in the Mediterranean Sea found sardines of no more than 2 years of age. From observations made on growth rate it is concluded that some fish species which reach huge dimensions may have several hundreds of years .... The famous naturalist of XVI century, Corrado Gesner in his History of Animals talked about a Keyserweg pike which had two hundred and seventy-seven years. He was able to count them from a ring in the pike, where there was this inscription in Greek language: "I am the fish to be put in this lake first from the hands of Federico II, the Universe Master on October 5, 1230". Recent studies confirmed that it is possible to recognize the fish age from their scales".
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