Orange Roughy

deep-sea · long-lived · ocean

Lives impossibly long. Orange roughy can live for over 200 years, making them one of the longest-living fish in the world. Scientists study their ear bones to count their age rings, just like counting tree rings.

Brick-red color. When alive in the deep ocean, the orange roughy glows with a brilliant brick-red color. But as soon as it dies, the color fades to yellowish-orange.

Lives in the abyss. Orange roughy swim in the freezing, pitch-black waters far below where sunlight reaches, hunting for food in this alien world. They live in oceans around the world, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Part of the slimehead family. The orange roughy belongs to a special family of deep-sea fish called Trachichthyidae, also known as slimy heads. All of these fish have unusual features that help them survive in extreme ocean depths.

Popular with humans. Because they taste good and grow quite large, orange roughy have been heavily fished. Scientists worry about protecting these slow-growing fish since they live so long and reproduce slowly.