Exhibit Galleries Blog

Showing posts with label seahorse exhibit. Show all posts

4/24/15

Trunkfish baby book

Whether your human, fur seal or penguin, parents or caregivers can't help but snap baby pictures. And chances are hundreds of pictures followed those first snapshots, taking up wallspace in frames or memory across your digital devices as the little one grew up. Well, a little trunkfish growing up at the Aquarium right now is no exception.

Baby trunkfish in seahorse exhibit | January, 2014

The tiny baby trunkfish was scooped up on a chilly fall day by Aquarium staff during a trip to Rhode Island more than a year ago. A so-called Gulf Stream orphan, the juvenile from the tropics had surfed the Gulf Stream up the coast during warmer months and would have died if it remained in the water over a harsh New England winter. But the aquarists gave this little fish a new lease on life in our comfortable exhibits.

Baby trunkfish in seahorse exhibit | November 2014

Too small to survive in the wilds of the Giant Ocean Tank, the little fish cruised comfortably around the seahorse exhibit near the Edge of the Sea touch tank for about a year. And it grew and grew...

Not-so-baby trunkfish in garden eel exhibit | April, 2015

... until finally the little fish graduated to a larger exhibit in the coral reef center, where you can find it today. This fellow has a ways to grow before it can be released into our biggest exhibit, so make your way up to see this little survivor in the garden eel exhibit today.

Meet our growing trunkfish! Visit the Aquarium today. Save time and buy your tickets online.

3/6/13

Seahorses wrestle for position [Videos]

Seahorses are a visitor favorite at the Aquarium. This unique exhibit provides a variety of angles for viewing seahorse behavior.

A couple months ago, I was feeding the seahorse exhibit and noticed some very intense behavior among the seahorses. One female was resting among the algae in the exhibit while her pair bonded male hovered around her. If other males came near her he would chase them away by bumping heads with them and even using his tail to drag them away. Check out this video showing some of that territorial behavior.

Months later the seahorses are still at it. This footage shows one seahorse dragging another around the exhibit.

Info Alert! Do you know male seahorses have a pouch on their belly? The male gets the eggs from the female and carries the "fry" much like a female kangaroo carries a joey. Yep! The males get pregnant. If you look closely in the video, you’ll notice that the male seahorses have puffed up pouches. When they are being territorial, a male seahorse will fill his pouch with seawater to look big and impressive to his mate.

-Dave (With some help from Jeff)

Want more stories from this exhibit?
Check out this video of a stickleback making a nest. And don't miss this classic story of a rescued juvenile cowfish who spent some time in the seahorse exhibit, more background on that little guy here. Finally, you have to see this video captured by Dave of a hermit crab hatching eggs on exhibit. It's not in the seahorse exhibit, but right nearby in the Edge of the Sea Touch Tank, which is being completely renovated right now.

1/21/12

Rescued Juvenile Cowfish Video

Here’s some video footage of the rescued cowfish we met a while back, swimming around in his new home at the Aquarium’s seahorse exhibit. Watch the way he swims; cowfish have hard, bony armor surrounding their bodies that keeps them from turning and flexing the way many fishes do. They move by fluttering small fins that extend out of their armor, so although they’re very well-protected, they’re not particularly quick or maneuverable.

At one point in the video, the cowfish ties to catch up to one of the mysid shrimp that are sprinkled into the exhibit for the seahorses to eat. The fact that he has some trouble catching up to a frozen shrimp is evidence that swimming isn’t his strong suit, although the fact that he picks a shrimp that’s almost as big as he is also doesn’t make things any easier.

You do have to admire his heart.

-Tim

1/9/12

Tropical Fish in Rhode Island?

Imagine that you're scuba diving off of the New England coast. The ocean is cold, but bearable, and as you make your way through the murky water, you begin to see familiar sights like sea stars, sea urchins and mussels. As you swim past a rock formation, you happen to see a tiny fish the size of your thumbnail wobbling along, and looking sorely out of place:

Photo: John Correa

As you get closer, you realize that what you're looking at is a tiny, lost cowfish--a fish that would normally live in the warm waters of the Bahamas, a thousand miles away.

Photo: John Correa

As dreamlike as this sequence sounds, it actually happens to divers from the New England Aquarium every Fall, when they travel to Jamestown, Rhode Island to search for what they call "southern visitors." Each year, the powerful Gulf Stream current sweeps small tropical fish up from the Caribbean and carries them north, often depositing them close to the New England shore.

These tiny warm-water fish would not survive a New England winter, so the Aquarium's annual dive trips are almost like rescue missions. The fish are brought to the safety of the Aquarium, where often you can even come to visit them: The cowfish pictured above is actually now swimming comfortably in our seahorse exhibit. Come say hello to him next time you're here, although he's growing so quickly that if you don't hurry, you might not recognize him.

Photo: John Correa

4/7/11

Video: Watch a fourspined sticleback build a nest

You never know what fascinating behaviors you might see in an Aquarium exhibit. Recently aquarists spotted a fourspined stickleback (Apeltes quadracus) building a nest in the seahorse exhibit on the third level. Check out the video:

Male sticklebacks build a nest by attaching tying together vegetation using secretions from their kidneys. Once the nest is complete it attracts females, who lay their eggs in it. The males then chase the females away and fertilize the eggs. Studies have shown that males build multiple nests, so be sure to keep a look out on your next visit. You might just see a builder at work!

Fourspined stickleback (source: cornell.edu)

New England Aquarium