This is a shark that can live for hundreds of years

Greenland sharks only need about 200g of fish per day to survive with a lifespan of up to several hundred years.

By looking at metabolic rate, a research team led by Eric Ste-Marie of the University of Windsor, Canada, obtained a lot of useful information about Greenland sharks under environmental stress. In a study published in the journal Experimental Biology, Eric Ste-Marie and his colleagues examined how much food Greenland sharks need to survive the day.

The Greenland shark has a very slow metabolism.

The Greenland shark inhabits the cold waters of the northern Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the waters surrounding Greenland. They are large sharks, with an average size of 2.4 - 4.6 m. It is one of the longest living animals on Earth and the longest living vertebrates in the world. Researchers think they can live up to 500 years. A 2016 study in the journal Science estimated the lifespan of 28 Greenland sharks, with the longest being between 335 and 392 years old.

Eric Ste-Marie's team captured 30 Greenland sharks over five years, tagged them, took samples and installed biometers that collected information about their movements, body temperature and water temperature. The results showed that the Greenland shark was very lethargic, moving around at a very slow speed. Using this information, the team was able to determine the caloric needs of the Greenland shark. Accordingly, an individual weighing about 227 kg needs to eat 57 - 184 g of fish or marine mammals to survive.

This amount of food is much lower than that of other sharks that live in warmer waters and swim fast. Research published earlier in 2013 estimated that every 11 days, a great white shark weighing 907 kg needs to eat 30 kg of fish fat. Previous studies have found that animals with a slow metabolism have a longer lifespan while those with a fast metabolism have a shorter lifespan.

In the study, the scientists emphasize that understanding the feeding needs of Greenland sharks is important to determine how they survive when climate change leads to changes in prey populations and food webs. eat. Greenland shark populations are dwindling, and their Arctic habitat is warming faster than any other region on Earth.