Thornback Ray

This one is for all you shark lovers out there...

"That's a ray!?!" Yeah, don't panic, I've not gone mad. This is a Thornback Ray (Raja clavata- if I ever needed a stage name, this latin name would be the name for me)
It may not be the shark you're thinking of but it is an Elasmobranch, and members of the Elasmobranch subclass include sharks, rays and skates. They are very closely related and I like to think of rays as flattened sharks. Instead of a bones these have a cartilaginous skeleton. Feel your ears at the top, that's the same sort of stuff. It's all bendy and flexible (don't go mad now, no need to hurt yourself). Having bendy cartilage instead of rigid bone allows these animals to be more flexible in water and allow them to make swift turns and do graceful loop de loops.

You often find these Rays eggcases (or Mermaids Purses) washed up on the strandline on our beaches. Identifying the eggcase to a species will tell you what species are living and breeding in those waters.

The Sharks Trust run a Great Eggcase Hunt, if you find an eggcase then send in your results. Sharks and Rays numbers have been declining, this information helps identify areas of potential nursing grounds and gives a better understanding of the abundance and distribution of certain species.  Click here to find out more about the Great Eggcase Hunt and how to get involved

I've had to say "goodbye" to two lots of Thornback Rays in my few years at the aquarium. That's because this species can grow to 140cm (4 feet 7 inches), and the tank we keep them in is not big enough to accommodate that size. We have good contacts with other aquariums who are more than happy to take them off our hands and display these beautiful creatures in their much larger tanks. In return we get baby rays captive bred from other aquariums that we grow on and put on display as juveniles for a few years until they outgrow us and need to move on. It's a sharing and caring cycle.

The picture is a young Thornback Ray we are currently beefing up in our tanks off display. At the moment they are a bit too small to go into our larger tanks, and a bit too big to go into any of our smaller tanks. They are feeding well and have grown well these past few months too, so I'm confident it won't be too long until they're big enough to compete with food with the likes of the dogfish and massive plaice that already occupy their new home.. Look out for them in this Aquarium soon!

Not the information you were looking for? Try MarLIN.ac.uk

Mexican Red Knee Tarantula

You may have been wondering where the bugs be at. I have to space out the bugs, compared to aquarium members the bugs are outnumbered. Of course in terms of real life bugs way outnumber everything else:

For every human there are 150-170 million bugs.
Guesstimating how many fish there are is something people don't like to do, those that do say a trillion. Let's compare a trillion to 6-7 billion Humans. We are outnumbered! But we're on about loads of bugs, so

a trillion fish vs 6-7 billion multiplied by 170 million... my brain hurts. But yes. Bugs outnumber fish and humans. COMBINED!

Phew.

The Mexican Red Knee Tarantula or Brachypelma smithi (for those who only work with binomial naming), are probably the best known spider in the world, if not spider than defiantly tarantula. The red knee is what comes to mind when someone says tarantula, they've entered popular culture.The moody photo doesn't do the spider justice but just google mexican red knee and that will be the tarantula you know well.

This species is near threatened. They are rare in the wild because they have been over collected for the pet trade. There are now specialist breeding programmes set up to breed this species in captivity for the pet trade, it will be some time before those in the wild recover their numbers though.

Now, I wouldn't say I'm screamish with spiders, but I'm happy keeping my distance from them. I don't handle them, don't wish to.. I pop my hand in the tank to give them some water and I'm cool with that. I wouldn't get too close though, I know about their urticating hairs which they kick up from their abdomen and legs which can cause bad irritation for a week or so.  

Not the information you were looking for? Try ARKive.org

Common Cuttlefish

Up next we have a marine mollusc. (and, to be super bias, one of my favourites).

A recent addition to the aquarium is the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). Though the name tries to suggest it, these animals are not fish at all, but molluscs, they’re related to octopus, squids and nautiluses, and more related to a garden snail than a fish. Maybe it was named by the same person who named the starfish a starfish when that's not a fish either. Then again, there's no true definition of a fish or what an actual fish is, but that's way to clever for me to even try and touch on, so I won't.

When we first got these cuttles in they were only a few cm in length, we fattened them up in the back and waited till they were feeding fine and grown on to put them out. They’re currently around 6cm in length.

(I do apologise for my gross looking finger. My hands are gross due to working with salt water, and also my fingernails grow pretty quickly and I'm convinced that's the salt too.)

The common cuttlefish can grow up to 50cm though the majority grow to 20-30cm in length and eat smaller molluscs like snails and clams, as well as crabs, shrimps and small fish. They are eaten by sharks and larger fish. They're also known to eat each other. But fear not, these guys have grown up together and get plenty of food so they won't be eyeing each other up for dinner.

Cuttlefish are amazing animals; I like to think of them as little rippling aliens. They can change the colour (by controlling their chromatophores) and texture of their skin to help camouflage into their surroundings. If you happen to be in our aquarium go and take a look you and you will notice the different body patterns each cuttle has depending on where they are in the tank. If they’re by a darkened patch with stones and other bits going on, they will create a disrupted body pattern- displaying a variety of coloured tones to blend in, and if they’re in clear sand the cuttle will be all one colour and bumpy.

This is going to be a long one because I do love these cuttlefish. So brace yourself for some reading, or just stop reading altogether and look at the pictures. Here's another picture.

Watching a cuttlefish feed is one of the best things ever. As a massive fan of watching animals chomping away believe me when I say this is something special. Cuttles are attracted by movement, if they see a crab or shrimp tottering along they will be on it. They like to "lure" their prey. Imagine the scene, there's a shrimp about and the cuttles spotted him, he heads over that way. Now the cuttle is face to face with this shrimp and now the cuttles moving two arms from side to side. The shrimps confused and curious, what is this lure? is it food? The cuttlefish still wiggling about starts to shimmer, ripples of colour go across his body and the shrimp is just fascinated, and in that instant the shrimp lets his guard down and the cuttle strikes! There are two tenticles hidden behind the 8 arms that are visible, these are special as they're long and fast and used to grab and stick to food. The shrimps now caught and stuck on the cuttles tentacles, and the cuttle pulls the tasty shrimp into its mouth (located behind all those arms). And starts to nibble away at it with its beak. Yes. Beak. I didn't say teeth I said beak. What a way to go.

Not the information you were looking for? Try MarLIN.ac.uk

Common Lobster

Enough about fish, let's pay some attention to a member of the crustacea subphylum (that just means a crustacean). The common Lobster, and you can call them a Homarus gammarus, and I do like to say that out loud several times fast. It's a good word. Onto the animal...

You can eat these, and if you've ate lobster you may have eaten this type. "But it's blue and all gorgeous!" you may say. It is, it goes red and less glamorous when it has been cooked. Our's is a bit small at the minute, so put your forks away, she won't make much of a meal.

My favourite fact about Lobsters involve their claws. Each one has a different function, the larger of the two is the "crusher", think of it like a nutcracker, it crushes its prey, the other is a "cutter", the edges are much sharper and can be used to cut up their prey, think of it like a pair of scissors, they can also just hold onto their prey too. It's not the fact each claw has a different function that is my favourite fact, it's the fact that though usually the left claw will be the "crusher" and the right claw the "cutter" it's not always the case... which means you can get left handed Lobsters, at least that's how I think about it, and it puts a smile on my face.

I took this photo a day after I made up the little rock house for her to place herself in, which she did... but, another day on she's decided that placing herself between the pipe and glass is a better idea than having a house. These animals...

Not the information you were looking for? Try MarLIN.ac.uk

Tomato Clownfish

You've not quite found Nemo, but it's easy to make that mistake. These are Tomato Clownfish, (Amphiprion frenatus) members of the Clownfish family, related to Nemos (False Clownfish/Amphiprion ocellaris) but totally different. You may be able to tell by looking that they look a little meatier, and only  have one white band on their body, Nemos are a bit more slender, with three white bands, but enough about those, it's not their day today).

Clownfish as cute as they are, are actually quite territorial and some may dare say vicious. But only in an evolved to stay alive way. They have a symbiotic relationship with Anemones, which basically means, they live together and both benefit from it. The clownfish have shelter in the stinging tentacles, scientists don't even know why for certain clownfish don't get stung, there's many theories, the most popular being their slime coat* feels to the anemone like itself, so it thinks it's just rubbing along itself so it's not going to try sting itself... but then, anemones have been seen to sting other prey with the clownfish inside... mysteries.

*(Mostly all fish are covered with a slime coat or mucus that acts as a barrier from nasty things like parasites getting into their scales).

The relationship is great for the Anemone too. Because though they don't look very appertising, there are some types of fish that will have a nibble at it. (Butterfly fish, I'm looking at you). The Clownfish, bold as anything- come out of the Anemone and quickly attack any fish going for a bite. As someone who's had their hand in a tank and been attacked, I can honestly say they pack a bigger punch than you may think.

Not the information you were looking for? Try fishbase.org

Yellow Tail Damsel fish

That's a pretty rubbish photo you may be saying to yourself, and I agree. Unless you thought it was good and in that case thank you very much! See, what I'm trying to do is give you the authentic aquarium experience. You know how it is, you go to an aquarium, take loads of photos and when you review them you realise the fish were swimming round the whole time, making your snaps blurry imperfections. Us Aquarists don't have a secret way of taking good pictures, so never feel bad.

Ok, onto the yellow tail damsel fish, or Chrysiptera parasema for those who are fans of binomial names.These are not to be confused with the blue devil damselfish we have (Chrysiptera cyanea), the most obvious way of telling these two species of little blue fish apart is the Yellow Tail Damsel has a yellow tail, and the blue devil damsel has a goatee and horns... actually they don't, they're just all blue.

If you like your fish a stunning blue then these are the fish for you. We keep our damsels in small groups of 6-8. If there are less they tend to not get on and get very territorial, but in small groups they get along in perfect harmony.

Not the information you were looking for? Try fishbase.org

Regal Tang

All these animals are my children, so you'd think I shouldn't have favourites, but I do. The same can be said for me having "less favourites", and the Regal Tang or Paracanthurus hepatus (for those of us who want to say that out-loud in a room full of people and feel smart), falls into that category. "WOAH! WAIT! WHY?!" you may cry, because they are some beautiful fish. I've learnt to bite my tongue when people express how beautiful these fish are, they are even my Nan's favourite. But these fish are bullies. I've observed this over time.

I can't deny that with their vibrant blue, and striking yellow tail that these are beautiful fish, they are. And Dory was the best thing about Finding Nemo, but it doesn't make amends for the temperament of these fish. Some fish are really easy-going-get-along-with-everyone-and-bumble-about fish and they are my favourite. Other fish can be possessive and protective of their space and their territory, and these fish needed this obviously to survive so I don't want you to think I am having a go at these fish, they're just not my kind of fish, you know?

Regal Tangs are a type of surgeonfish, there are 80 different species of surgeonfish. These fish are characterised by their sharp "scalpel-like spines" (Hence "Surgeon"fish), the regal tang has these razor sharp spines on each side by the base of their tail.

OW! That can cut you like a knife.

Not the information you were looking for? Try fishbase.org

Mono

The next fish I've chosen for you in no particular order is the Mono. No, it's not a piranha, I promise you it's not. Piranha's live in fresh water, and we are a salt water aquarium. It's a mono, or Monodactylus argenteus for those who appreciate Latin. You still don't believe me do you? Google it.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Mono is that they are commonly mistaken for piranhas. Ahh, I'm just kidding mono, I'm sure you're a fascination really, and there's far more to you than being mistaken for a piranha. Just give me a minute to think it up...

It may be the name we refer to them as which has made me think nothing much of this fish. "Mono", in other parts of the world it's known as a "Silver Moony" or "Sea Angel", now those are names for an interesting fish!

These fish live in brackish conditions, and perfect for our Mangrove display. They are adapted to live in fresh water or salt water, or water that is between the two.

These are some tough fish, I have been at the aquarium for nearly 3 years and in this time I have not known one of these fish to die! (And only one archer fish from the mangrove display has). That's pretty impressive, take an aquarist word for it.

Not the information you were looking for? Try fishbase.org