The ocean quahog holds the record at 507 years, ahead of the Greenland shark (about 392, with a range of 272 to 512) and the bowhead whale (211), as of November 2026. This ranks animals, one row per species, by the longest lifespan recorded for any individual. For trees see The Oldest Living Trees, and for people The Oldest People Ever.
Pictured: Ming the ocean quahog, #1 at 507 years, in the thumbnail of a video about its discovery.
| Rank | Animal | Max lifespan (years) | Scientific name | Group | Habitat | How age was determined | Confidence | Record type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ocean quahog | 507 | Arctica islandica | Mollusc | Marine | Shell growth rings (cross-dated) | High | Wild |
| 2 | Greenland shark | 392 | Somniosus microcephalus | Fish | Marine | Radiocarbon dating of eye lens | Low | Wild |
| 3 | Bowhead whale | 211 | Balaena mysticetus | Mammal | Marine | Eye-lens amino-acid dating | Medium | Wild |
| 4 | Rougheye rockfish | 205 | Sebastes aleutianus | Fish | Marine | Ear-bone (otolith) growth rings | Medium | Wild |
| 5 | Red sea urchin | 200 | Mesocentrotus franciscanus | Echinoderm | Marine | Radiocarbon-calibrated growth | Medium | Wild |
| 6 | Galápagos tortoise | 177 | Chelonoidis niger | Reptile | Land | Captive record | Low | Captive |
| 7 | Pacific geoduck | 168 | Panopea generosa | Mollusc | Marine | Shell growth rings | Medium | Wild |
| 8 | Shortraker rockfish | 157 | Sebastes borealis | Fish | Marine | Ear-bone (otolith) growth rings | Medium | Wild |
| 9 | Aldabra giant tortoise | 152 | Aldabrachelys gigantea | Reptile | Land | Captive record | Low | Captive |
| 9 | Lake sturgeon | 152 | Acipenser fulvescens | Fish | Freshwater | Fin-ray growth rings | Medium | Wild |
| 11 | Orange roughy | 149 | Hoplostethus atlanticus | Fish | Marine | Ear-bone (otolith) growth rings | Medium | Wild |
| 12 | Eastern box turtle | 138 | Terrapene carolina | Reptile | Land | Shell growth rings and field records | Medium | Wild |
No matching rows.
Maximum recorded lifespan in years, as of November 2026. The figures are the “maximum longevity” values in the AnAge database of animal ageing and longevity, checked against the original studies for the quahog, Greenland shark, bowhead whale, rougheye rockfish and red sea urchin.[1] Record type says whether the oldest individual was aged in the wild or lived in captivity. The Confidence column is RList’s own judgement of how firmly the maximum is established (AnAge itself rates every entry here “acceptable”): high for cross-dated growth lines, low where the birth date is unknown or the method has a wide error. Rules: each species appears once, with its single oldest individual; only solitary, individual animals count. Colonial and sessile organisms are excluded, such as black corals and the glass sponge Monorhaphis chuni, claimed at about 11,000 years, because a colony is not one animal in the usual sense. The “immortal jellyfish” Turritopsis dohrnii is excluded too: it can revert to a juvenile form, but no individual has a documented age. Other widely repeated figures are left out for lack of evidence: the koi “Hanako” at 226 years, and the Aldabra tortoise Adwaita at about 255. Species tied on a value share a rank. The list stops at 12; the tuatara (90 years) and fin whale (114) follow.
“Ming”, an ocean quahog dredged off Iceland in 2006, was aged at 507 years by counting and cross-dating the yearly growth lines in its shell, which puts its birth around 1499.[1][2] It is the longest-lived individual animal on record, and the only reason its age is known is that it died in the process of being studied. The video tells that story.
Radiocarbon dating of the eye lens put the largest of 28 sharks at about 392 years, with a statistical range of 272 to 512 years.[3] That wide range is why this row is rated low confidence: the shark has no annual rings, and some scientists doubt the upper end. Even the low end would make it the longest-lived vertebrate. The video is Jonathan Bird’s Blue World footage of the species.
The bowhead is the longest-lived mammal. AnAge’s 211 years comes from dating amino acids in the eye lens of a harvested whale, an estimate with an error of about 35 years.[1][4] Old harpoon tips found in living whales support lifespans past a century. The video is NOAA’s Arctic Report Card on the species, not on its age.
A rougheye rockfish from southern Alaska was aged at 205 years from the growth rings in its ear bones, the longest recorded for any rockfish.[1][5] Ear-bone ages in very old fish can be off by years, so this is rated medium. No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.
Radiocarbon from nuclear-test fallout was used to check that the largest red sea urchins off British Columbia, over 19 cm across, are around 200 years old.[6] Earlier guesses were 7 to 15 years. Researchers found little sign of ageing in them. No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.
AnAge lists 177 years for the Galápagos tortoise, a captive record.[1] The best-known case, Harriet at Australia Zoo, was said to be about 175 when she died in 2006, but her hatching date was never documented and the link to Darwin is the zoo’s claim.[7] That is why this row is rated low. The video is from the Charles Darwin Foundation’s tortoise research.
The geoduck, the world’s largest burrowing clam, is listed at 168 years from shell growth rings.[1] It is the second clam in the top ten, after the quahog. No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.
The shortraker rockfish reaches 157 years in AnAge.[1] A 2013 Alaska record fish first reported as 200 years old was later aged at 64, a reminder to be careful with headline claims. No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.
AnAge records 152 years for a captive Aldabra tortoise.[1] Adwaita, a tortoise who died in Kolkata in 2006, was reported to be about 255, but with no documented birth date that figure is disputed and not used here. The video is the Wildlife Conservation Society’s clip of the species at the Bronx Zoo.
The lake sturgeon is the longest-lived freshwater fish in the table, at 152 years, tied with the Aldabra tortoise and aged from growth rings in a fin ray.[1] The IUCN rates it Endangered. No verified official video was available, so an icon is shown.