Alec Lackmann, a North Dakota State University researcher was out on the water conducting research examining often overlooked freshwater fish species in Otter Tail County’s Crystal Lake in Minnesota. As a part of the research, the team was sampling the fish’s “otoliths”, ringed growths located within the skull of many fish species. Without going into the true nitty-gritty of it, biologists can determine a fish’s age by reading the otolith under a microscope, similar to reading tree rings to age trees. What’s most remarkable is that of the multiple fish caught in the study, a couple of specimens were over a century old, and the oldest tipped the scales (no pun intended) at 112 years old, making it the oldest freshwater fish ever recorded.
Read more about Bigmouth Buffalo and Alec’s research in this article from Field and Stream!
Featured photo from Alec Lackmann/NDSU
