Some living creatures on Earth can survive for astonishingly long periods, far beyond the average lifespans seen in most species. These remarkable beings owe their longevity to slow metabolisms, stable environments, and unique biological traits that help them resist aging. Their extended lives allow them to witness vast changes in their ecosystems over centuries.
Many of the longest-living organisms dwell in places where external conditions remain constant. Cold oceans, deep waters, and isolated habitats often provide the calm and protection necessary for a slow pace of life. With fewer predators and limited environmental stress, these beings can grow and age at a gradual rate, extending their years well beyond expectation.
Scientists study long-lived creatures to understand how aging works and what factors slow it down. Their cells often show strong resistance to disease and remarkable repair mechanisms. Learning from these natural processes could one day help humans improve health and longevity.
Another factor that contributes to long life is efficient reproduction and low mortality rates. When individuals can survive for centuries, they have more chances to reproduce successfully and maintain stable populations, ensuring their kind continues to thrive. This stability helps sustain delicate ecosystems across generations.
Animals With the Longest Life Span
Immortal Jellyfish
The immortal jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) is a tiny, biologically immortal cnidarian found in oceans worldwide, capable of reverting its adult medusa form back to a juvenile polyp stage under stress, potentially allowing it to cheat death indefinitely. Measuring just 4.5 mm across, it drifts with ocean currents, feeding on plankton, and its unique transdifferentiation process makes it a subject of intense scientific interest for aging research, though predation and disease limit wild populations.
Hydra
Hydra, a genus of simple, tube-shaped freshwater cnidarians, exhibits biological immortality with no signs of senescence even after years in captivity, continuously regenerating cells to maintain youthfulness. Native to ponds and slow streams in temperate regions, these 0.5-inch polyps extend tentacles to capture tiny prey like daphnia, serving as model organisms in stem cell and regeneration studies due to their extraordinary longevity.
Laodicea Undulata
Laodicea undulata, a hydrozoan jellyfish from marine environments, achieves biological immortality through reverse development from medusa to polyp, resetting its life cycle to evade aging. Rarely exceeding 1 cm, it inhabits coastal waters, snaring plankton with stinging cells, and its regenerative abilities highlight the evolutionary tricks some cnidarians use to persist in dynamic ocean ecosystems.
Moon Jellyfish
Moon jellyfish (Aurelia sp. 1), the translucent drifters of temperate and tropical seas, possess biological immortality via life cycle reversal, transforming stressed adults back to polyps for rejuvenation. With bells up to 16 inches wide, they pulse gently to propel through water, grazing on zooplankton, and their glowing, umbrella-like forms are common in aquariums, symbolizing the ocean’s hidden long-lived wonders.
Comb Jelly
Comb jellies like Mnemiopsis leidyi glide through marine waters using iridescent cilia combs, achieving biological immortality by reversing development to a juvenile state, thus avoiding programmed death. Invasive in some areas, this 4-inch ctenophore voraciously consumes plankton, impacting food webs, and its rainbow shimmers make it a mesmerizing, if problematic, example of oceanic endurance.
Giant Barrel Sponge
The giant barrel sponge (Xestospongia muta) towers up to 6 feet in Caribbean coral reefs, with the largest specimens estimated at over 2,300 years old, growing slowly as filter feeders that pump thousands of liters of water daily for nutrients. These brownish cylinders host symbiotic algae and fish, forming reef foundations, but bleaching events threaten these ancient sentinels of marine biodiversity.
Black Coral
Black corals from the Antipatharia order, dwelling in the deep-sea Gulf of Mexico, can exceed 2,000 years, their skeletal branches providing habitats for countless species in the abyss. Sleek and wire-like, they capture plankton in currents, glowing under UV light, and their slow growth makes them vulnerable to trawling, underscoring the fragility of deep-ocean ancients.
Living Coral
Certain living corals in the Gulf of Mexico reefs have been dated to 4,265 years, forming massive colonies that shelter fish and invertebrates while slowly building calcium carbonate structures. These anthozoans photosynthesize with symbiotic algae, enduring storms and warming seas, and their longevity records challenge our understanding of reef resilience amid climate change.
Antarctic Sponge
Cinachyra antarctica, an icy-white demosponge clinging to Antarctic seabeds, reaches an estimated 1,550 years by filtering microscopic food in frigid waters, its porous body a haven for microbes. Adapted to subzero temperatures, it grows incrementally, contributing to carbon sequestration, but ocean acidification endangers these polar longevity champions.
Tubeworm
Escarpia laminata tubeworms, rooted at deep-sea cold seeps, surpass 1,000 years by harnessing chemosynthesis from methane, their red plumes waving in darkness to oxidize sulfides for energy. Up to 9 feet long, they form dense “forests” sustaining unique ecosystems, resilient to extreme pressures but impacted by hydrocarbon extraction.
Glass Sponge
Glass sponges like Scolymastra joubini form ethereal, lattice-like structures in Antarctic deep seas, living up to 15,000 years as living climate archives, their silica spicules filtering nutrients from sparse currents. Towering up to 10 feet, they host symbiotic bacteria, stabilizing seafloor sediments, and their preservation reveals millennia of ocean history.
Ocean Quahog
The ocean quahog (Arctica islandica), a hardy bivalve burrowed in North Atlantic sediments, holds the verified record of 507 years for “Ming,” siphoning nutrients from chilly waters with minimal metabolism. Thick-shelled at 3-4 inches, it aids nutrient cycling, but overharvesting for chowder threatens these unassuming molluscan marathoners.
Greenland Shark
Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) prowl Arctic depths for 272–512 years, the longest-lived vertebrates, growing slowly to 24 feet with toxic flesh from urea. Blind but keen-scented, they scavenge whales and seals, accumulating radioactivity as age markers, and their sluggish pace makes them apex predators of the cold north.
Freshwater Pearl Mussel
Freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera) anchor in clean European rivers for 210–250 years, filtering algae and detritus while hosting salmonid fish for larval dispersal. Elongated shells up to 6 inches protect their longevity, but pollution and dams have critically endangered these keystone bivalves vital for water purification.
Bowhead Whale
Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) migrate Arctic waters for over 211 years, their blubber insulating against ice while baleen sieves krill and copepods. Reaching 60 feet, they sing haunting songs, evading whalers with thick skulls, and eye lenses dated to 200 years underscore their generational wisdom in a warming pole.
Rougheye Rockfish
Rougheye rockfish (Sebastes aleutianus) haunt North Pacific seamounts for 205 years, bearing live young in rocky lairs while ambushing shrimp with spiny fins. Mottled red at 3 feet, they thrive in cold currents, but deep-sea mining endangers these slow-maturing fish central to commercial fisheries.
Red Sea Urchin
Red sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus) patrol Pacific kelp forests for over 200 years, grazing algae with Aristotle’s lantern while spines deter predators. Barrel-shaped at 7 inches, they drive kelp dynamics, preventing overgrowth, and their longevity fuels studies on caloric restriction for extended life.
Oreo Dory
Oreo dories from deep-sea families like Allocyttus endure up to 170 years in abyssal plains, their round bodies gliding to snap squid and fish in perpetual twilight. Silver-scaled at 1 foot, they mature late, complicating sustainable fishing amid expanding deep-ocean harvests.
Deep-Sea Tubeworm
Lamellibrachia luymesi tubeworms cluster at Gulf of Mexico seeps for over 170 years, chemosynthesizing from sulfides in tube sheaths up to 10 feet tall. Feathery gills absorb minerals, fostering symbiotic bacteria, and their endurance at 2,000 feet deep reveals life’s tenacity in toxic realms.
Geoduck
Geoducks (Panopea generosa) burrow Puget Sound sands for over 160 years, their siphons extending 3 feet to filter plankton from tidal flows. Clamshell up to 6 inches with necks like elephant trunks, they’re prized in cuisine, but slow recruitment demands regulated aquaculture to preserve stocks.
European Eel
European eels (Anguilla anguilla) elude aging for 155 years, migrating from rivers to Sargasso Sea spawning grounds in leaf-like larvae. Slender at 5 feet, they hunt nocturnally, but dams and pollution have crashed populations, marking this catadromous fish as critically endangered.
Orange Roughy
Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) lurk in deep-sea canyons for 149 years, aggregating in “trawler graveyards” to spawn while preying on crustaceans. Brick-red at 3 feet, their late maturity (30+ years) fuels overfishing debates, highlighting the perils of harvesting ancient ocean dwellers.
American Lobster
American lobsters (Homarus americanus) scuttle North Atlantic bottoms for ~140 years, molting exoskeletons while regenerating claws lost in battles. Blue-blooded at 2 feet, “George” reached 140 pounds, but warming waters and traps challenge their indeterminate growth.
Bigmouth Buffalo
Bigmouth buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) idle in Midwest rivers for ≥127 years, sucking insects and plants with vacuum mouths in murky shallows. Suckermouths up to 3 feet, they’re overlooked natives outliving many game fish, urging reevaluation of underfished long-livers.
Sturgeon
Sturgeon like the lake species persist in Great Lakes for 125 years, vacuuming bottom detritus with barbels while armored scutes shield against currents. Prehistoric at 12 feet, caviar demand has imperiled them, but restocking revives these ancient swimmers.
Tardigrade
Tardigrades, or water bears, endure ~120 years in cryptobiosis, desiccating into tun states to survive space vacuums and radiation. Microscopic at 0.5 mm, they toddle on eight legs in mosses, embodying extremophile resilience that inspires astrobiology.
Koi Fish
Koi fish, ornamental Cyprinus carpio variants, claim 226 years for “Hanako” in Japanese ponds, fed minimally while gliding in serene waters. Carp-like at 3 feet with vibrant scales, their longevity ties to low-stress captivity, blending art and aquaculture traditions.
Great White Shark
Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) roam global coasts for 70+ years, apex predators with serrated teeth replacing 30,000 times in electro-sensory hunts for seals. Torpedo-shaped at 20 feet, conservation lifts bans, safeguarding these ocean enforcers from finning.
Orca
Orcas, or killer whales (Orcinus orca), navigate pods for ~105 years in matriarchal lines, echolocating to corral herring in synchronized waves. Black-and-white at 32 feet, “Granny” led hunts, but pollution and ships disrupt these intelligent, culture-transmitting cetaceans.
Human
Humans (Homo sapiens), the longest-lived primates, reach 122 years as verified by Jeanne Calment, thriving on diverse diets and medicine in global societies. Upright bipeds at varying sizes, our extended childhoods foster innovation, though lifestyle diseases now cap potentials below genetic maxima.
Giant Tortoise
Giant tortoises like Jonathan (Testudo gigantea) amble St. Helena for ~191 years, grazing weeds with armored shells while mating biennially. Dome-backed at 4 feet, they seed-disperse in isolation, icons of Darwin’s evolution amid invasive threats to islands.
Galápagos Tortoise
Galápagos tortoises (Geochelone nigra) lumber volcanic isles for 175 years, necks stretching for cacti in saddle or dome forms adapted to terrains. Massive at 500 pounds, “Harriet” outlived Darwin, but goats and rats spurred heroic eradications for their survival.
Tortoise (Adwaita)
Adwaita, a disputed Aldabra tortoise, allegedly spanned ~255 years in Indian service, plodding gardens with unyielding shells. Herbivorous giants, such claims fuel debates on calibration, emphasizing the tortoise’s emblematic slow, steadfast longevity in captivity.
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) screech Australian woodlands for 120 years, cracking nuts with beaks while bonding monogamously. Crested clowns at 20 inches, “Cocky Bennett” outlived owners, but pet trade and habitat loss clip wild flocks.
Komodo Dragon
Komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) stalk Indonesian isles for 111 years, venomous bites felling deer in thermoregulated ambushes. Lizard kings at 10 feet, they scavenge communally, but tourism and inbreeding imperil these venomous, bacteria-laden apex reptiles.
Asian Elephant
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) traverse Indian forests for ~90 years, trunks dexterously foraging while matriarchs guide herds with infrasound. Gray behemoths at 10 feet, “Dakshayani” embodied cultural reverence, yet poaching and development fragment their migratory lifespans.