Experts said that in the past, people had believed that red sea urchins could only survive 7-15 years. But the latest findings are based on two completely different techniques for dating sea urchins, biochemistry and nuclear analysis, both of which yielded consistent answers. The study shows that red sea urchins can survive longer than all land animals and most marine animals, with few signs of aging or age-related dysfunction.

Thomas Ebert, a marine zoologist at Oregon State University, said that no animal can live forever, but these red sea urchins seem to be close to "immortal" and they may die. due to hunting by predators, species diseases, or being caught by fishermen. Even a 100-year-old red sea urchin may still live another 100 years or reproduce as vigorously as a 10-year-old red sea urchin.

In fact, mature red sea urchins produce large amounts of sperm and eggs and are fully capable of reproducing, despite their incredible age. There is no such thing as menopause in sea urchins.

This small marine animal lives in the shallow waters of the Pacific coast and other oceans from Alaska to Baja, California. It feeds on marine plants and protects itself from intrusion with its spikes. Historically, red sea urchins have been a nuisance.

Albert said that in the United States in the 1960s, sea urchins were considered a scourge of the ocean, a real danger. They eat away at large amounts of seaweed, and people believe that they more or less damage the marine ecosystem, so every effort is made to poison them to get rid of their harm. But in the 1970s, a commercial fishery based on the sale of sea urchins emerged in the United States, and sea urchins were initially sold to Japan. They were sold at high prices and became one of California's most valuable marine resources in the 1990s.

Albert said that just like human reproduction, sea urchins can fertilize their eggs while they float on the ocean surface. It takes a month or more for the larvae to grow into small sea urchins. Young red sea urchins grow quite rapidly. At two years old, it can grow 2-4 centimeters in one year, doubling its original size. Even then, scientists say, it would have to live for 6-7 years to reach mature size, whereas previously it was thought to only take 2 years. In their teens, sea urchins grow significantly slower. Researchers found that when a sea urchin is 22 years old, it only grows from 12 centimeters to 12.1 centimeters per year. But apparently, sea urchins never stop growing, they just grow very, very slowly.

In the strait between Fankuve Peak Island and the mainland, scientists discovered some of the largest and probably oldest red sea urchins, reaching 19 centimeters in size. After determination, they may be 200 years old or even older.

The age determination of sea urchins was initially carried out by studying the spikes of individual sea urchins. By injecting tetracycline into the spikes, the growth rate of the sea urchins could be measured. More recent studies have used carbon-14 radioactive dating.

Albert said that the radiocarbon test results of sea urchins show that the growth of older sea urchins is always quite stable and harmonious no matter how the ocean conditions change. The study also found that even when sea urchins reach near-adult size, they do not "break out" in growth. Sea urchins are a simple species, the larger they are, the older they are.

Albert added that although their study only focused on red sea urchins, the situation of other sea urchin species is at least partially related to the situation of red sea urchins.

The study also pointed out that this invertebrate is most vulnerable to death from various threats within one year of birth and during the reproductive age. Otherwise, there would be a large number of sea urchins in the world. exist.