Sea urchin lives more than expected

2004/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

It is said that sea urchin can reach two hundred years, unless they pick it up before to make sushi. So far it was considered that he lived about fifteen years. To reach this conclusion they have combined two methods: on the one hand, they have marked with tetracycline about fifteen hundred sea urchins and, on the other, they have used the carbon test 14.

Tetracycline adheres to the skeleton, which allows to measure the growth of sea urchin for a year. As you have seen, in the first ten years it grows fast, but then much slower. The sea urchin set has a minimum length of 8 centimeters and takes about six years to reach this measure. However, they have come to the conclusion that the size of large sea urchins of almost twenty centimeters in height can be about two hundred years.

The Carbon 14 test has made it possible to differentiate those born before the 50s, since the nuclear weapons that were used at that time considerably increased the amount of carbon 14 in a short time.

However, some experts have requested a more comprehensive investigation, as such conclusions require more data as a basis.