Do you know how to calculate how old a fish is?.

The scales are similar to the rings of a tree. Depending on how many dark rings you may see, if you were to hold the scale up to a light source, will determine the age of the fish. However, since scales can regenerate often, the rings could be cloudy and difficult to decipher. You can get a more accurate age of a fish by other methods which require the fish to be dead. These include reading the rings on the cross section of a fish ear bone or fin ray.

Counting the number of annuli (rings) on a scale provides the fish age and the spacing between rings is proportional to the growth of the fish.

Recently a Rockfish was caught off the coast of Alaska and weighed a record-breaking 39.8 pounds. There is a strong correlation between length, age and weight. While most fish stop growing once they reach adulthood, Rockfish continue to grow as they age. Originally it was believed to be over 200 years old and many newspapers were saying it was the oldest fish ever caught, however after further examination it was determined to only be 64 years old – still old by fish standards!.

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