Longevity

  • Thread starter Ron Troversial Clay
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Ron Troversial Clay

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Assuming obvious things such as predation and desease, what is considered as the ultimate lifespan for our various species. The longest living fish in British waters is obviously the carp. 60 years seems a possiblity, but what about the other species.

Here are my estimations:

Eel: 50 years
Barbel: 30 years
Pike: 30 years
Tench: 25 years
Brown Trout: 20 years
Chub: 20 years
Bream: 20 years
Roach: 12 years
Rudd: 10 years
Dace: 8 years
Perch: 7 years
Rainbow Trout: 5 years (hens)

I don't know too much about zander, but I guess they do not live all that long, 10 years at the most. I think that the catfish could live for a long time. Certainly African catfish can reach ages in excess of 30 years, that's if they don't get eaten by crocs of course.

Most male rainbow trout don't get much beyond 3 years from my experience.

The gender of the various species could also effect the life span, the females living much longer than the males.

What do you think?
 
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Warren 'Hatrick' (Wol) Gaunt

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I'm sure the eel would way outlive the Carp Ron, i would of thought 70+. Dont know how much of that time would be spent in our 'freshwaters' though.
 
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Warren 'Hatrick' (Wol) Gaunt

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Tench i would say 17-20.

Perch i would give a tad more than 7 and head in the region of 10-12.

Zander i would guess at around 20.
 
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Ron Troversial Clay

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Thank's for the post Warren.

If the eel lives so long, what evidence do we have.

Come on, lets have your comments?
 
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Blunderer

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Surely there must have been some research done on this? the EA, maybe?
 
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Richard Huggett 1

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If an eel grows at a rate of one pound per ten years of life {which is the accepted rate} , a five pound eel would be fifty years old. Agreed ?

Then how old was Steve Terry's eleven pound record fish ?

More funding for more research needed, perhaps ? If the researchers can find any eels to research.....
 
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Ron Troversial Clay

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Somehow, in all honesty, I do not beleive that Steve Terry's eel was over 100 years old.

We are now talking about putting the eel as one of the longest living species on Earth with the exception of trees, humans and tortouses. Crocodiles can live to 70 years and this has been well documented.

Eels in my opinion grow much faster than 1 pound per 10 years of life. If the food source is avaiable they will chomp it.

Again, what evidence do we have?
 
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Wolfman Woody

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Barbel - Keith Arthur caught Manky, one of only two barbel we have given names to and she was named so because she was manky looking. When he saw her, he reckoned she must have been getting on for 40 years old. She has been caught a couple of times since, but we haven't seen her for the past 3 years now.

Pike - a real pike expert once told me that 20 years was exceptional for a pike. Most only live 10 - 12 years.

Perch I would have thought lived for longer than 7 years. Perhaps even double that.

Others can't be far out though. Where did you get your figures from btw?
 
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Richard Huggett 1

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Agreed Ron...when I kept an eel in an aquarium a few years back it grew extremely quickly for a while, then seemed to slow right down and didn't increase much in the next couple of years.

I guess it's all down to the amount of available food and the competition for that food that makes for growth rates. Then there's the predator situation to consider, not only natural predation, but look at the amount of eels that are commercially caught for food.

Perhaps we should ask Brain Crawford or Dr. Terry Coulson for their input.
100 years does seem an awful long time for any fish to live...but who know ? We certainly don't....only the eels do.
 
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Ron Troversial Clay

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My figures are based on estimation and gut feeling after spending over 1/2 a century as an angler and after reading and studying many books on the subject. I don't put them out as gospel, rather for others to comment on and if need be to criticise.

My figures on rainbow trout, I think are fairly accurate. Steelheads particularly have short lives but grow very fast indeed.

Generally speaking predatory fish do not have as long a life span as the cyprinids, but there are exceptions of course.
 
Mark Wintle

Mark Wintle

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Ron,

Dace manage up to about 12 years based on EA survey data on Hants Avon/Dorset Stour. My experience of roach tracking the same shoals of fish suggests that roach might make it up to 17/18 years in exceptional circumstances though 14 is more likely.

Chub have made it into low twenties.

Eel record is 88 years from a captive fish.

I've had three year old rudd make it another 7 years in captivity total 10.

Richard,

Have you read The Book of Eels by Tom Fort?
 
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jason fisher

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there are records of koi living for nigh on a hundred years i think, in japan.
 
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jason fisher

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a koi is a carp in't it, or am i confused, my thought was if a koi can live fer 100 years, then some thing less inbread might be able to live that long too.
an a galapagos tortoise aint a fish so it don't count.
 
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sash

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Not convinced about the eel growing 1lb every 10 years either. I reckon they do achieve a certain weight (dependant on all the normal variants within their water) and then grow really slowly for years afterwards until reaching a natural peak. I can't see any problems with the 100 years old bit though.
 
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The Monk

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they take sturgeon age readings from calcium build up in the scales, similarly to trees and rings, some sturgeon are recorded at 200 years plus (the North American White), not sure about the large European Sps
 
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sash

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Duuur. Meant to say the 1st growth period is reasonably quick, certainly not 1lb every 10 years. Possibly every 4?

Forgot about the sturgeon.....what about the burbot? They're supposed to be fairly long-lived. And of course, are widespread in the UK! Char? I had a pet Stone Loach that lived for 5 years after being introduced to the tank. Very tame too.
 
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The Monk

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Not sure about the Burbot Sash, they are of course extinct in the Uk but still prevelent in Europe, the only member of the Cod family which lives in freshwater.

I have Weather loach in my pond, they appear quite hardy, mind are two year old?

The White Fish Sps, like the Char are essential deep cold water fish, and apparently do have a greater than average longevity!
 
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