The California Academy of Sciences offers plenty of worthwhile reasons to visit, from the four-story indoor rainforest to the state-of-the-art planetarium. And while the legendary albino alligator, Claude, sadly passed away last year, he was far from the only animal resident at the Academy with a fascinating backstory.
Many visitors to the Academy walk right past Methuselah, an Australian lungfish that has resided at the Academy since 1938. With her age estimated at over 93 years old, she is the oldest living aquarium fish in the world.
Methuselah’s story
Methuselah first arrived at the Academy’s Steinhart Aquarium via steamship in 1938 with another 231 fish from Fiji and Australia. At the time, the Golden Gate Bridge had only been open for one year, and World War II was looming.
Since then, Methuselah has lived through the Beat Generation, the Summer of Love, the 1989 earthquake, and countless other local milestones.
In 2023, a new study used cutting-edge DNA analysis to calculate a new age estimate for Methuselah and 30 other lungfish from aquariums around the USA and Australia. And while she was previously estimated to be about 84 years old, the study put her new estimated age at 93 years old (95-96 in 2026) plus or minus 9 years.
Before Methuselah, the world’s oldest aquarium fish was Granddad, an Australian lungfish at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Granddad lived to an estimated 109 years of age and died in 2017.
Beloved for her sweet personality and affection for belly rubs, Methuselah has been an animal celebrity at the Academy for generations of San Franciscans. She resides at the Academy of Sciences with two other lungfish in their fifties.
Visiting Methuselah at the Academy of Sciences
Look for Methuselah downstairs in the Water Planet exhibit at the Academy’s Steinhardt Aquarium.
🕜 Hours: Open 9:30am-5pm Monday-Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday, and 6-10pm for the Thursday NightLife events
📍 Address: 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
🌐 Learn more: Read our article about the California Academy of Sciences
