Aquarium

Dive on in with us at the Toledo Zoo Aquarium! The Aquarium was first built in 1939, but the inside was renovated in 2015, making the exhibits total over 178,000 gallons of water, which is about nine of your average backyard swimming pools. Throughout the many tanks there are over 3,000 species of aquatic animals, including fish, crabs, octopus, sea stars and turtles!

As you enter the Aquarium, the lighting is dimmed and there is instrumental music playing throughout the building to create a calming atmosphere. This audio tour will start with tanks in the main lobby as you enter, and then take a left to go in a circle around the building.

As you enter the main lobby of the Aquarium, there are two large tanks. The tank to the right is the Gulf of Mexico Tank. This is the second largest tank in the Aquarium with floor-to-ceiling glass. This tank has two windows, one in the main lobby of the Aquarium, as well as from the back hallway of the Aquarium. Along the center of the tank are very large rocks, and the floor of the tank is covered in small rocks and sand. This tank most notably houses our Green sea turtle, Bonnethead sharks, tarpon which are a species of fish, and various species of stingrays.

It’s turtle time! As you adventure through our Gulf of Mexico Tank, you will find one of the most famous residents, a rescued Green sea turtle named Tink. Tink was hit by a boat in the wild and is unable to swim typically. Tink now has a condition known as “bubble butt.” This happens when a pocket of air gets trapped under their shell and creates issues with their buoyancy, causing Tink’s backend to float upward. It is like if you were to try to dive into the water while wearing a life jacket. The life jacket pulls you back up, making it difficult to dive under the water. To help correct this, Zoo staff have added weights to Tink’s shell to help balance them out. Tink can often be found moving around the exhibit or resting on the ground in front of the viewing glass.

Green sea turtles can be found worldwide in shallow coastal waters where there are seagrass beds, bays, lagoons and some coral reefs. They have large, hard shells that are brown, olive or grey in color with paddle like flippers and small heads. Green sea turtles get their name not from the color of their shells but from the greenish color of their fat. They are a light color of green which can be pictured as the slippery texture of seagrass waving on the ocean floor or slick algae on a rock which is smooth and a little sticky. Unlike other sea turtles, Green sea turtles are primarily herbivores feeding on seagrass and algae. This is what gives them their green color. Green sea turtles are one of the world’s largest species of turtle, capable of weighing over 300 pounds! That is about as much as a refrigerator!

The second large tank in the main lobby is to your left and is our Flooded Amazon Forest Tank. This tank also has floor-to-ceiling glass for viewing. Across the center of the tank are large trees like a flooded mangrove swamp found in the Amazon Basin. These trees have long, dense, tangled roots stretching across the floor of this exhibit. This tank is home to multiple freshwater fish including the arapaima, one of the largest species of freshwater fish in the world.

The largest fish in this tank is the arapaima, weighing more than 400 pounds. That is about as much as a motorcycle weighs! They have a long body, with some reaching up to 10 feet in length. That’s about the same length as a parking spot. Arapaima are grey to greyish green with red markings towards their tails. Unlike other species of fish, arapaima breathe air rather than through gills. This means that they may be observed swimming to the top of the tank to breathe every 10–20 minutes. Arapaima primarily eat smaller fish but are also known to eat small mammals, birds, frogs and worms. They have even been known to eat fruits, seeds and plant matter found at the surface of the water.

Wow, those legs are super long! As you walk up the ramp after the main lobby, the Japanese spider crab tank is straight ahead. These crabs will most likely be walking around the bottom of the tank or climbing slightly up the sides. There are usually around four to six crabs in the tank. It is a darker tank to mimic the dark, cold waters in which these crabs are found. It has a sandy bottom and some whale bones on the bottom. This is because the spider crabs often eat dead and decaying animals that have fallen down to the ocean floor.

Japanese spider crabs are the world’s largest living crab. They are found in the cold, deep waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Japan. Their leg span can reach up to 12 feet claw to claw in the wild, though the ones at the Zoo are not quite that big. Their main body is about 12 inches across, about the size of a dinner plate. They have a dull reddish color with blotches on top and a white color on the bottom. They get their name because they have eight main legs and two smaller legs with claws.

Across from the crabs and right before our Large Reef Tank are the smaller tanks that host a variety of smaller sea creatures.

In the very first tank are the pot-bellied seahorses. These seahorses are one of the largest species of seahorse, with a maximum size of 14 inches, just over a foot. Pot-bellied seahorses are found in the Pacific Ocean around Australia and New Zealand. They are often found by seagrasses, just like in our tank here at the Zoo. They use their prehensile tail to grab on and hold onto the grasses. The pot-bellied seahorse, as the name suggests, has a large swollen belly. These seahorses can be brown, yellow, gray, white or orange. Most of the ones at the Zoo are yellow and gray. They eat crustaceans such as shrimp, which are sucked into their tube-like snouts and eaten whole.

If you have seen Finding Nemo, then you will recognize the fish in the second tank! That’s right, it’s the clownfish! This small tank is filled mostly with anemones, wiggling their long tentacles, but the small bright orange and white fish often dart through the anemones. Clownfish and anemones have formed a mutualistic relationship. Both work together to survive. The clownfish uses the anemone as a safe home and protection because the anemone stings most other fish. The anemone gets help too because the clownfish help to keep it clean, eat parasites and may chase other predators away. These fish live in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, particularly in coral reefs.

You are now at the largest tank in the Aquarium, the Pacific Reef Tank. This tank has large floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides. This tank holds 90,000 gallons of saltwater. Can you imagine 90,000 gallons of milk? That is how much water this tank holds! In the center of the tank is a large rock-like structure that is made to look like a coral reef, providing shelter for many of the fish who live here. There are also some smaller artificial coral structures throughout the floor and along the sides of the tank. There are many species of colorful tropical fish found in this tank as well as a few species of shark. On some occasions, there may be scuba divers in the tank working to clean the artificial coral. Some of the most notable fish in this tank are our unicorn fish and sharks.

Did you know unicorns were real? In this tank there is a unicornfish! Unicornfish have long, oval-shaped bodies with greenish-grey colored scales. They are named for the long horn sticking out from between their eyes, similar to a unicorn’s horn. Unicornfish are found in the Indo-Pacific seas. They are often found where the waves break and crash because these areas carry the brown algae that they feed on. Short-nose unicornfish are a medium-sized fish, typically 13–14 inches long, around the same length as a shoebox. You can often find them quickly swimming past the viewing areas or resting in the artificial coral in the center of the tank.

Do zebras have stripes or spots? Don’t let this fish fool you. The largest animal in this tank is our Zebra shark, reaching lengths of 9–12 feet long, about as long as a surfboard. That is about as long as a compact car! When they are young, Zebra sharks have yellowish stripes, which is how they get their name. However, as they grow up their pattern changes from stripes to small dark spots. This causes them to often be mistakenly referred to as Leopard sharks. Adult Zebra sharks, like the ones we have here at the Zoo, are sandy in color with small dark spots covering their bodies. They have powerful tails that are almost as long as the rest of their bodies. Zebra sharks have rounded snouts with small mouths. Zebra sharks primarily eat shelled creatures like mollusks and crustaceans. They use their small mouths and powerful muscles to suck their food out of its shell like a vacuum. Unlike most sharks, they have flat teeth that help them crunch through the tough shells of their food. Our Zebra sharks can often be found swimming along the viewing areas of the tank or resting at the bottom.

The second largest animal in this tank is our blacktip reef shark. These sharks can grow up to 6 feet long. That’s about the same length as a ladder turned sideways. They are grey in color and have black markings at the tips of their fins, which is why they have the name blacktip reef shark. They have short, rounded faces with saw-like teeth. Blacktip reef sharks have something called countershading. This means that they’re darker in color along their backs and lighter in color on their bellies, similar to penguins. The darker color on their back helps them blend in with the darker sea floor while their white bellies help them blend in with the lighter ocean surface when being viewed from below. This form of camouflage helps them hide from predators while also allowing them to sneak up on their prey. Blacktip reef sharks typically feed on fish but will also eat crustaceans and mollusks. These sharks can often be found swimming together along the top of the viewing area of this tank.

As you round the 90,000-gallon Pacific Reef Tank, you will approach the back hallway of the Aquarium. The first exhibit on your left is the sea nettle exhibit. This tank has a striking blue background that spotlights the bright orange color of the sea nettles. Sea nettles are a type of sea jelly with a bell-shaped body, long thin tentacles and four lacy white arms coming from the center of their bodies. The bell of the sea nettle is about 1 foot across, similar in size to a 2-liter bottle of pop. Sea nettles are carnivores and feed on a variety of small sea creatures including zooplankton, larval fish, eggs and small jellies. When prey brushes up against their tentacles, it causes them to sting and paralyze their prey. When viewing the sea nettles, you can often find them floating around the tank.

Just past the sea nettles, there is an exhibit that has a curtain about 5 feet in front of it. This curtain helps visitors notice what is in the exhibit and reduces glare for the exhibits across the way. This exhibit is home to the Giant Pacific octopus. In the exhibit there is a circular, cave-like rock structure. Often at the bottom of the exhibit are various items of enrichment that could include Legos, a peanut butter jar or pieces of PVC piping. These items are used for the octopus to play with and do puzzles.

The Giant Pacific octopus is the largest octopus species. It is a reddish-pink color with a whitish underside on its eight arms. The eight arms have suction cups — over 2,000 in fact. From tip to tip, the octopus’ arms can measure up to 13 feet long. That’s about as long as two beds. A full-grown adult octopus can weigh more than 50 pounds, about as heavy as a large bag of dog food.

The Giant Pacific octopus can be found all around the Pacific Ocean. It prefers cold waters of 60 degrees or colder. In these waters, the octopus hunts a variety of foods like crabs and clams. They sneak up on these animals using camouflage. Octopuses are masters of disguise. They can use their beak to bite open the shells of clams and crabs or pull them apart.

The next exhibit we are going to highlight is home to our piranhas. This is a medium-sized tank with a rocky background. The floor of the tank is covered in small brown pebbles. There are some sticks as well as some small green aquatic plants. These fish like to swim in groups called schools, so you may notice them moving together throughout the tank. Piranhas have thin, round bodies with strong jaws and sharp, triangular-shaped teeth. Their bodies are grey in color with flecks of shiny silver scales and red patches on their bellies. Piranhas are found in freshwater systems of the Amazon River basin. Piranhas feed on a variety of food sources including fish, insects, crustaceans and ripe fruit.

One of the last tanks in the back hall of the Aquarium on the left-hand side is our Lake Erie Tank. This is a long rectangular tank that houses some of the freshwater fish found here in Toledo such as walleye and lake sturgeon. The bottom of the tank is covered in small tan and white pebbles. There are rocky formations along the back of the tank for fish to swim in and out of as well as some large logs and leafy green aquatic plants.

Walleye are freshwater fish that live in cool water rivers and lakes. They are long, thin fish covered in gold and olive-colored scales with dark stripes. Walleye are typically between two and a half and 3 feet long, making them similar in length to a baseball bat! They have two fins on their backs called dorsal fins. Their first dorsal fin is spiny and sometimes sticks up almost like a mohawk. Walleye get their name from their cloudy-looking eyes. This is caused by the reflective layer that they have over their eyes that allows them to see in low light. This low light vision allows them to hunt for their prey at night. Walleye have large mouths with sharp teeth that help them catch and eat their food. Walleye primarily feed on small fish, invertebrates and insects. The walleye in this tank can typically be found resting toward the bottom of the tank.

The Lake sturgeon is probably the most noticeable fish in this tank due to its size. Lake sturgeon are the oldest and largest native species found in the Great Lakes. These large fish can reach up to 6 feet long, about the same length as a standard couch. Lake sturgeon are also very heavy fish, weighing upwards of 200 pounds, around the same weight as a washing machine. Instead of having scales like most fish, the lake sturgeon has rough, leathery skin and hard, bony plates along their sides and back. They are typically olive or grey in color with lighter underbellies. Lake sturgeon have long snouts with their mouths located on the underside. Lake sturgeon do not have teeth. Instead, they have a large, extendable tube-like mouth that allows them to suck up food from the bottoms of lakes and rivers. They use the sensory whiskers on their snout, called barbels, to help them locate snails, crayfish, mussels, aquatic insects and even small fish and eggs to eat. These fish can often be observed sucking up food off the bottom of the tank or swimming about the tank.

Thank you for diving in with us at the Aquarium here at the Toledo Zoo. We hope that visiting this exhibit has given you a chance to learn about some interesting ocean creatures and to gain greater appreciation for these amazing animals. Enjoy the rest of your visit here at the Toledo Zoo.