Saturday, May 01, 1999
Fish just keep coming
Eels slither into home at aquarium
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The population of the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium is increasing dramatically as biologists and staff place fish and other animals in their new homes.
There's an almost constant parade of containers filled with fish and reptiles these days between the Newport warehouse holding tanks and the permanent displays at the aquarium in preparation for the May 15 public opening.
“Shipments of fish arriving at the warehouse are pretty much an everyday occurance now,” animal curator Pam Lyons said Friday as she prepared to unload 45 transport boxes containing a variety of fish. “It's getting to be almost nonstop activity.”
Several large moray eels are living in a specially designed exhibit that presents them as they would be in the wild, lurking in holes and crevices of large coral and rock outcroppings, their open mouths displaying sharp teeth for capturing and holding prey.
The 380,000-gallon shark tank is alive with schools of jacks and other ocean fish that normally share space with the nurse sharks that were the display's first inhabitants.
More sharks are on the way, according to Ms. Lyons. “Larger sharks should be arriving next Tuesday,” she said. “And we expect a truck next Thursday with three more big sharks and about 100 Atlantic Ocean fish.”
Among the arrivals Friday at the warehouse were Atlantic tropical fish, some of which will find their way to the shark display and others to various exhibits; fish that will live in the California kelp forest display; and Pacific tropical fish, which will go into the Bizarre and Beautiful, Deadly and Dangerous, and Coral Reef exhibits.
“A big Amazon shipment came in this week,” Ms. Lyons said. “Some of those fish will go to the Amazon River exhibit, while some will be in several other displays.”
Reptile arrivals include an other pair of young alligators that joined the original pair in the bayou exhibit, as well as some poisonous cottonmouth water moccasins. Ms. Lyons said more reptiles are on the way, including an 8-foot alligator.
The aquarium has received numerous calls from area residents who have large tropical fish that they can no longer maintain and would like to give to the aquarium.
“We haven't gotten around to most of the donated fish yet, because we have to pay attention to the wild fish coming in that must be quarantined before they go to the exhibits,” Ms. Lyons said. “The fish donated by individuals are usually very clean and can go right into an exhibit, so we will deal with them last.”
Eventually, the aquarium will be home to some 11,000 animals.
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