Sharks are already super cool animals! So when I saw this article on how there is a large species, near blind sharks that can live upwards of two to five centuries I freaked!
It makes sense when they put the growth of a year and age together. Prey animals grow and reach sexual maturity very quickly so the species doesn't die out, while predators at the top of the food chain grow slowly and reach sexual maturity later in life. So a large shark, that is presumably at the top of the food chain, would grow very slowly (a centimeter a year) and reach sexual maturity at around 150 years old.
What interests me is how do they mate, what do they eat?
They are clearly sharks, but do they move slowly to expend less energy? Or do they expend it in quick bursts to capture prey?
The link wasn't working for me, so here is the article I got this from:
Near-Blind Shark Is World’s Longest-Lived Vertebrate
Hi! I read this article too and had some of the same questions. It seems like they'd have to move around pretty leisurely in order to expend so little energy, but they must have some sort of way to get food. Maybe in this cold of water all the animals do this, so the prey is slow too or something. I thought you made some nice points in your entry. Hope you've had a nice summer!
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