Captive Aquatics: An Aquarium and Ecology Blog

The Smithsonian Creates Hawaii Coral Bank

"Washington, DC - Scientists at the Smithsonian Institution and the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa have created the first frozen bank for Hawaiian corals in an attempt to protect them from extinction and to preserve their diversity in Hawaii.

New Sea Turtle Exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's new green sea turtle exhibit opened last month, and they've put up a short but fun video of green sea turtles being released into the exhibit.  They are just a few from a clutch laid at Sea World in San Diego, most of which were released into the wild under the supervision of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.  Check out the video below!

 

The Underwater River World of San Marcos, Texas

Take a video tour through the crystal clear spring-fed waters of the San Marcos River, home to the endangered Fountain Darter, Texas Blind Salamander, and Texas Wild Rice.  The stable Edwards Aquifer keeps the river water at a rock-solid 72 degrees, even while the ambient (environmental) temperature swings as much as 80.  Cool temperatures and critters make it a summertime refuge for local college students and tourists alike.

If you're lucky enough to spot them while exploring, you'll more than likely find that the Fountain Darters are as curious about you as you are them...

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Pygmy Seahorses in High Definition

The Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Ocean Futures Society have created a beautiful video showcasing various pygmy seahorse species in high definition - take a look!

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Basic Cichlid Care in the Aquarium - Part Two

Basic cichlid care part 2: aquascaping in cichlid aquariums.  In part one I wrote about the natural environment of cichlids, as well as appropriate water chemistry and conditions for cichlid tanks.  If you did not read the first part click here to get caught up! In this part, I'll discuss appropriate tank size as well as aquascaping a cichlid aquarium.

Video of the Deepwater Horizon Gulf Oil Leak

I think most of the world is aware of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak now, estimated to be leaking 1-4 million gallons of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico, and making multiple stratification layers miles long and wide, and several hundred feet thick.  All fishing from the Gulf has already been suspended, and whatever the impact is of this spill, it won't be good.  The oceans produce more than 50% of the O2 for this planet - if the ocean ecosystems were to die off, so would we. 

Video of the leak, as well as underwater footage:

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82 Stony Corals Endangered?

So, it seems that a piece of legislation currently under consideration by NOAA would add 82 species of corals to the endangered species list.  This is getting a lot of buzz around the hobby, websites, mostly of the knee-jerk "Oh my god this will kill our profits hobby!" type (ie. Coral Magazine's site, where this proposition is laughed at, yet conservation efforts are recommended only one post below!), a fear that's not only unfounded, but interfering with the protection of these species.

One Cubic Foot of Ocean Life

National Geographic put up a neat article about the life inside of a cubic foot in various environments, including tropical and temperate ocean environments.  Check it out here!

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Thai Navy Protects Sea Turtles

For the past two decades the Royal Thai Navy has been active in sea turtle conservation by supporting the Thailand Sea Turtle Conservation Center (they released 20,000 green & hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings this year!), and by keeping training exercises away from nesting grounds.  Check out this video of the hatchlings being released:

Want to know what you can do for sea turtles?  Help leatherback sea turtle habitat conservation, and only eat ocean friendly seafood!

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Green Sea Slug: Part Animal, Part Plant!

Image courtesy of Wired Science

As many hobbyists know, sea slugs of the genus Elysia ingest chloroplasts from algae they feed upon and store them in their bodies for additional energy.  However, a new sea slug, Elysia chlorotica has been discovered that makes its own chloroplasts, just like a plant or algae would, from genes that it takes from its food!