“Life on Planet Ocean”

Aquarium’s ‘Exotic Aquatics’ Gallery

KURE BEACH – One gallery of exhibits at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher focuses for the first time on exotic species – life not normally found in the state’s waters.  The gallery opened in 2005, after more than a year of planning and development.

This collection marks a major excursion from the facility’s 30-year tradition of showcasing only those aquatic life forms found in North Carolina’s freshwater, coastal and open ocean habitats.

 
The gallery’s four spectacular exhibits includes fishes, reptiles and mollusks from the far reaches of our planet. 

Visitors discover venomous sea snakes from the tropical Pacific, visible from all sides of their 1,000-gallon cylinder; fluorescent cuttlefish from the Red Sea or the Mediterranean, flashing against the dark background of their special tank; grotesquely beautiful Indo-Pacific lionfish and native scorpionfish, fluttering in their rocky lair; and more than a dozen colorful reef fishes of the Pacific coral atolls – the green-bird wrasse, the fire dartfish, the percula clown and more – all browsing for morsels within their living coral habitat. 

Up-to-date interpretive technologies help visitors learn about the gallery’s many strange and interesting species.  A flat-panel liquid-crystal display at each exhibit provides facts and photo IDs to illuminate the featured animals.  Screen content, controlled though an unseen computer, is updated often to add variety to the visitor’s experience.

Cuttlefish   Cuttlefish are mollusks – relatives of snails, clams and oysters – but are more closely related to their intelligent cephalopod cousins, octopus and squid.  Like them, they shoot ink to foil enemies and prey, and they employ a remarkable ability to rapidly change their skin colors in a variety of patterns.  This “fluorescent flashing” enables them to blend with their surroundings, to warn enemies, to lure a mate, or to mesmerize their intended prey.

The Exotic Aquatics cuttlefish exhibit will alternate individuals of either the European cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, which prefers gravel bottoms and often hides under ledges, or the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, which prowls open waters above the bottom.  Though both are found worldwide, the European cuttlefish is especially prevalent in the Mediterranean, and the pharaoh is more common in the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific. 

The cuttlefish live in a 600-gallon pedestal tank with a black background.  The exhibit extends seven feet from the wall, providing visual access from a number of angles.  Visitors find it easy to witness the astounding changes of skin coloration that these creatures use for survival.

Sea Snakes   Sea snakes, highly venomous relatives of cobras and coral snakes, are found in great numbers in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from East Africa to Australia and as far west as Central America.

Though most of the 50 or so known species live their entire lives in the water, one family, the sea kraits, crawls onto land to lay eggs. The aquarium’s Exotic Aquatics gallery contains 10 to 12 individuals representing two species of these land-venturing sea snakes.  They are displayed in a habitat modeled after the mangrove swamps of New Guinea or Sri Lanka.

This exhibit’s free-standing acrylic cylinder, taking its place as the gallery’s centerpiece, stands seven feet high and contains 1,000 gallons of salt water.  Its 360-degree access allows excellent views of the snakes as they move among the simulated roots of a mangrove forest.

Lionfish   Lionfish are members of a family known for inflicting venom by means of specialized spines.  Several lionfish, Pterois volitans, and their close relatives, spotted scorpionfish, Scorpaena plumieri, are housed in a special exhibit within the Exotic Aquatics ensemble.

Creatures of the Indo-Pacific seas, lionfish were first seen in North Carolina waters in the summer of 2000 by scuba divers exploring offshore wrecks.  Since then, their numbers have increased dramatically; they are now considered an invasive species that could threaten the survival of native fishes, including many of economic importance to our fisheries. Scorpionfish, common in the Atlantic, are found from Massachusetts to Brazil.

A wall-mounted 550-gallon exhibit helps visitors learn the similarities and differences between the two species, and presents the most recent scientific theories as to how the lionfish may have been introduced and why it has thrived.

Pacific Reef   Another exhibit of 550 gallons houses a dozen species of fishes that share the Pacific-atoll coral reef habitat.  Many are familiar to visitors who have seen the movie “Finding Nemo.”  The collection of fancifully colorful reef-feeders includes clownfish, angelfish, tangs, wrasses, butterflyfish, cardinalfish, and many more.  The exhibit’s setting, built of corals, sponges, anemones, giant clams, and other forms of reef life, is all real, offering visitors a chance to witness the animal behaviors that would be exhibited on a reef in the Pacific.

Like the other exhibits in the Exotic Aquatics gallery, the Pacific Reef includes interpretive panels and video monitors to aid visitors in learning about the animals and their ecosystem.

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