Even these animals, which have survived for so long and live so deep that few humans have ever seen them, are threatened by human actions. The commerical fishing practice known as deep sea trawling (dragging a net across the bottom) kills these corals, along with many other animals.
"At four thousand years old, the Leiopathes sp. black corals beat the quahog clams, which live to be four hundred, and they beat the tortoise Jonathon, who’s 176."
http://deepseanews.com/2009/03/deep-corals-are-worlds-oldest-animal/
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by whysharksmatter.