Cephalopodcast

Yesterday, the aquarist at work carved pumpkins while underwater in the Mote shark tanks.

• See also: Tirck-or-Treat [sic]

There are many things to dislike about this video. Mixing limnetic and stenohaline fishes. Confusing a Holocentrid for a Salmonid. Undergravel filters. But then you realize the kid is probably just tripping and the beatbox blowfish is really amusing. So don’t sweat the details and just give it up for Sammy the Salmon and his amazing salmon dance…

mild profanity

• Chemical Brothers
• Alternate encoded version: Chem1_FactoryWeb.mov
• The Fish and the Forest

[via Tony Wu]

Watch the birth of a baby mantra ray literally unfold.

Video of the world’s first live birth of a manta in captivity. Healthy baby female, about 1.9 metres across, born at the Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan. Video is from a TBS news broadcast.

I am curious to know if the animal mated and reproduced in captivity or if it was captured while pregnant.

• Live Manta Birth in Captivity
• Churaumi Aquarium (English) and link to their manta news details
• More on manta rays here: The Manta Network

UPDATE: The story at Japan Probe and Yahoo News suggests that the parents mated while in captivity.

UPDATE II: Sadly, the baby manta has died.

Keepers believe the baby died of bruises and cuts, apparently caused by its abusive father that constantly chased after the baby, often slamming into it, the aquarium said.

The reason for the father’s violence was not immediately known, and the baby’s death was still under investigation, the aquarium said.

[via tastyblogsnack]

Sad news. The Georgia Aquarium has lost another whale shark. Norton is the second whale shark to die at the facility.

ATLANTA (AP) - Norton, 1 of the original whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium, died early today, the aquarium’s second whale shark death in five months.

Aquarium officials said in a statement that in the last few months, Norton had stopped eating and showed erratic swimming behavior. The Georgia Aquarium hosts the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia.

Husbandry staff noticed a decline in Norton’s swimming behavior yesterday and blood work confirmed a decline in his health.

Norton had been placed on a 24-hour watch. Officials said early this morning, the whale shark stopped swimming and settled to the bottom of his tank.

• More: Second whale shark dies at Georgia Aquarium
• See also: Ralph, one of the Georgia Aquarium whale sharks, dies suddenly
• Another captive whale shark dies suddenly
• Divers Find Whale Shark In South Florida

[via SAYOR]

Another captive whale shark has died suddenly, this one in Japan.

The cause of the death of the 5.4-meter-long female whale shark, named Yu-chan, is unknown, according to officials. The fish is believed to be 12 to 13 years old.

• Popular whale shark dies mysteriously
• See also: Ralph, one of the Georgia Aquarium whale sharks, dies suddenly

[via Reddit]

Steve Weast has a custom, ~900 gallon (~4000 L) Fiji reef tank. He was dismayed to find a 7 foot polychaete eating his +$25 coral polyps.

I staked out the tank one evening with a red lens flashlight in an attempt to catch the suspected villainous shrimp or crab. What I saw caused many sleepless nights. Through an opening in the live rock, I spied what looked like a worm with a diameter of about ¾”. This worm was passing through this live rock opening…and passing…and passing…and then passing some more…just how long was this thing? Suddenly, the worm stopped…and way over on the other side of the tank…

More details and pictures of the extraction at OregonReef.com.

[via Make]

Back in my LFS days, we gave new customers this rule of thumb: one gallon of water for each inch of fish. So these little lighbulb aquariums wouldn’t make good starter tanks. But they are tiny and cute. And now you can learn how to make your own.

• Instructables: Light Bulb Shrimp Aquarium
• Palmtop Aquariums

[via Consumerist]

Continuing our series on weird aquariums, here is a video showing a combo deep fryer and goldfish tank.

Because oil floats on water, despite the massive heat (163 degrees Celsius) the goldfish simply stay away from the surface and all is well. They eat the crumbs of croquettes and other fried foods that fall to the bottom, and can live in there for 5-10 years as they happily clean away, ignorant to the fact that certain death awaits any potential escapees.

(more…)

[via JW, thanks!]

A couple of weeks ago the world got to see stunning video of a rare deep sea frill shark. Another bizarre looking customer is the goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni). You can check out some amazing photos and videos of a live goblin shark at this website:

• Tokyo Zoo: Goblin Shark
• Video: Quicktime
• Video: Windows Media
• MarineBio.org species profile

We eagerly await to see if the fine folks from Pink Tentacle can help with a translation. In the meantime, here is Google Translates robotic effort.

UPDATE: According to the Underwater Times, the shark did not survive for long.

A goblin shark — a rarely seen species often called a “living fossil” — was caught alive in Tokyo Bay but died after being put on display, an aquarium said.

The grey, long-nosed shark was caught in fishermen’s nets around 150 to 200 metres (500 to 650 feet) deep. It was discovered by officials of the Tokyo Sea Life Park when they took a boat with local fishermen on January 25.

But the shark died on the morning of January 27.

• Reuter news: goblin shark
• Reuter news: frill shark

The Reuters report repeats the misconception that these deep sea creatures die primarily because of a sudden pressure change. Deep sea animals have bodies composed mostly of water, with no gas pockets. Because liquids are virtually incompressible, these animals seem to suffer little pressure-induced effects from dramatic depth changes. It’s far more likely that the change in temperature is more stressful (from 4°C to ~30°C).

Here’s some good news for a captive shark:

The young male white shark that has been part of our Outer Bay exhibit since September is back in the wild.

Our husbandry team tagged and released him shortly after sunrise today (Tuesday, January 16). It marks the second time in two years that we’ve exhibited a white shark and then returned it safely back
to the wild.

He was released from a boat in Monterey Bay after our staff fitted him with an electronic data tag that will track his movements for the next 90 days. If all goes as planned, on April 16, we’ll get information documenting where the shark traveled, how deep he dove and the water temperatures he favored. The data will be relayed to scientists via satellite when the tag pops free.

We released him because he’d grown considerably–from an initial length of 5-foot-8 and 103 pounds when he arrived on August 31, 2006 to his current size of 6-foot-5 and 171 pounds. He was healthy and feeding at the time of release, but was large enough that to delay much longer could have posed more risks for both the shark and our staff during the move. We expect he’ll do well after release, just as our first white shark did.

• More: MBAq White Shark 2006
• Previousluy: New white shark at Monterey Bay Aquarium

My wife and I just got back from our first trip to the Georgia Aquarium. I was planning on editing the video this weekend to post here. Then comes this news. Sad.

The first necropsy on a whale shark in the United States was performed Friday at the Georgia Aquarium following the animal’s sudden death Thursday night. The 22-foot whale shark, Ralph, was one of the first two whale sharks to be held in captivity in North America.

• Aquarium Officials Seek Answers
• Necropsy Performed on Dead Whale Shark
• Aquarium looks for answers in whale shark death

The GAq also recently had a sick beluga whale that died.

(via Dad)

(Photo credit: clevergrrl and dawgfanjeff)

The Cephalopodcast is heading to the Georgia Aquarium today. We’ve downloaded the companion podcast tour. We’ve loaded the new video camera with tape and fresh batteries. Look forward to bringing you all a podcast of the experience later this week!

Fun facts:

• FLMNH Species Profile: Whale Shark
• Scientists at the Georgia Aquarium want to make history by becoming the first to breed whale sharks in captivity.
• The Atlanta Journal Constitution blogged the construction of the GAq.

There is a special surprise coming to the Cephalopodcast. The answer will become clearer each day until the New Year.

Need another hint? Click here.

Man, this is wrong on so many levels.

Fish ‘n Flush is a hard-acrylic aquarium that holds 2.2 gallons of water and wraps around a separate 2.5-gallon toilet tank. The kit, from AquaOne Technologies, costs $299 and includes the aquarium and flushing systems, including filters, pump, two artificial plants and a guide. An LED light costs $25 extra.

• Courant.com news story
• Gizmodo

UPDATE: Well, I guess there is a bathroom sink to add to the tacky decor choices. See also, the movie.

Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) and this time it’s a male. He was captured by MBA’s husbandry staff a couple weeks ago and it’s now on display in their Outer Bay exhibit. Wish I could get there to see this.

For only the second time, there’s a healthy young white shark in our Outer Bay exhibit. 5 feet 8 inches long and 104 pounds, he arrived on August 31 and is making himself right at home in the million-gallon exhibit.

White sharks are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. MBA had a lot of success with a female specimen they kept for 198 days back in 2004. I reckon they’ll keep this male on exhibit for a couple of months too before he’s released. It’s a good opportunity to learn more about this species and educate the public about sharks.

• MBA: White Shark 2006
• MBA: White Shark webcam (requires Windows Media Player)
• FLMNH: White shark biological profile

UPDATE: Here’s some interesting links from the last time MBA had a shark. Did not realize there was a controversy.

• CBS: Great White Shark Debate Deepens
• NPR: Aquarium’s Great White Kills Other Sharks
• SFGate: Great white shark swims free
• MBA: White Shark Research Project

I’ve just come across some software that combines two things I enjoy, my Mac and my aquarium.

[Maquarium is] management software for the novice or expert fish keeper. It allows users to track chemicals, schedule tasks, keep notes, manage inventory, and analyze expenses.

Maquarium features a fish, coral, plant, and invertebrate profile database which contains information that helps you track and maintain the delicate needs of each item in the tank. Furthermore, Maquarium helps the novice by warning of dangerously high chemical values and the recommended course of treatment, while allowing experts to set up custom warning values.

A demo version of maquarium is available. The full version is $24. I will try it out over the next couple of days to see how it works. If you know of similar software, let me know.