New discovery: Warty venus can live longer than we thought

Although there are many species of shellfish that live only a few years, the Adriatic Sea is inhabited by species that live for decades. Warty venus (Venus verrucosa) is exactly one of these species.

️Research by our scientists has confirmed that the warty venus can live significantly longer than previously thought. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of growth lines in shell sections have established the maximum age of this species recorded so far at 29 years – which is even 13 years more than the data published in the scientific literature.

Individuals of this age are extremely rare and represent less than 2% of the studied individuals.

The obtained results clearly show that the age cannot be estimated from the size of the shells, because shells of similar length (~5 cm) had an estimated age of 10 to 29 years.

The research was conducted as part of the HRZZ BivACME project and the results were published in the journal Fisheries Research.

Preview: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2023.106812