andy Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6341406.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 Here's an example of the coral discussed in the article: http://www.arkive.org/black-corals/leiopathes-spp/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I amazes me that something that looks so fragile could live so long. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 I agree -- while I was reading the article I was visualizing a big chunk of porites... not a sea fan style coral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Nice find. That had to be the oldest living thing on the planet! I thought the same thing as you guys. I pictured a large stony coral formation with layers and layers of buildup. See, now once we perfect our reef keeping, there should be literally no corals dying in our tanks. They in theory don't die of old age since they are colonial and continually replace or build upon the each other. lol we will never know exactly how to perfect our reef keeping but we sure are continually getting better at it. I know of one person on reefcentral that has coral colonies that he has had for right around 30-35 years. That is pretty awesome stuff. I wish I could keep a tank going for more than a few years lol. Garrett 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 That had to be the oldest living thing on the planet! Some bristlecone pine trees are in the 5000+ year range. But 4000+ years is getting up there. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Insane, that coral looks like a very fragile bit of life. It makes me wonder what they HAVEN'T discovered in the oceans - there may be corals much older than that! Good find! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerv503 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thank you for this article it's really fascinating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Wow! that is crazy. I knew that there were some pines that dated to just before the time of Christ but 5000 years is just amazing! Good stuff to know. Thanks, Garrett Some bristlecone pine trees are in the 5000+ year range. But 4000+ years is getting up there. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I read the article but I didn't see anyplace to see a picture. Did I miss it? Nice find by the way:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Here ya go Blaine. Found this on Google. http://www.arkive.org/black-corals/leiopathes-spp/info.html Amazing that anything can live that long. I really wasnt aware that there were pines that were 5000+! Wow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It does seem like the deep-water Black Corals are very much like our ancient old-growth forests. I'm curious to whether or not these corals could be acclimated to an artificial environment for propagation? Perhaps they are too slow-growing? if so, could a faster growth rate be stimulated somehow? Hawaiian collection of Black Coral for jewlery is regulated. http://www.mauidivers.com/Precious-Coral/Black-Coral/ Yucatán Black Coral (order Antipatharia) is threatened, due to over collecting. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0606_blackcoral.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakkzz Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 It amazes me the things they find. Even crazier will be the things yet to find. Thanak you for the great article! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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