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Gallery of the Seas

Be amazed by life under the sea and encounter the Pacific giant octopus, sea anemones, living corals, and weedy sea dragons in this vibrant oasis.

What Will You Discover?

Explore an underwater art gallery that's alive with octopus, sea stars, jellies, and corals. These creatures boast bright colors, strange shapes, and other fascinating characteristics that are almost too beautiful or strange to believe.

Bullet Goby Bullet Goby

Bullet Goby

Typically found in solitary or pairs, the bullet goby prefers sandy areas near coral reefs. They feed by sifting mouthfuls of sand and expelling it through their gills to capture small invertebrates, organic matter, and algae. When not feeding, they may be seen tending to their burrows, which they also dig by excavating sand one mouthful at a time.

Size

Up to 6 inches

Range

Indo-Pacific region

Diet

Detritus, algae, crustaceans

Did You Know?

Bullet gobies form monogamous pairs. During spawning, males construct burrows where the eggs are deposited. For the most part, males guard the burrows, occasionally fanning the eggs to provide oxygenated seawater to the burrow, though the female will usually remain nearby. After about four days, the eggs hatch and the fry leave the nest. Interestingly, one study found parental care shifted from the male to the female when the male parent was removed from the burrow.

Common Cuttlefish Common Cuttlefish

Common Cuttlefish

Common cuttlefish are found in sandy or muddy substrates, from sub-tidal waters to depths of 600 feet. Members of this species follow seasonal migrations, spending spring and summer in shallow waters, then moving to deeper water during autumn and winter. Cuttlefish bodies are soft, aside from a large flat internal shell called a cuttlebone filled with gas and used for buoyancy control. They have eight arms and two much longer tentacles. When hunting, they can shoot out their tentacles in a flash, grabbing prey with pinpoint accuracy and drawing it into their beak to be consumed.

Size

Up to 20 inches

Diet

Crustaceans, fish, mollusks

Range

Eastern North and East Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea

Did You Know?

Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their skin within seconds, allowing them to camouflage instantly or communicate with other cuttlefish or predators. Special structures within its skin enable it to change colors quickly. The cuttlefish expands and contracts these structures to create different color patterns and textures on its skin.

Jewel Anemone Jewel Anemone

Jewel Anemone

The jewel anemone is often found in dense aggregations, especially on vertical rock faces in caves and beneath overhangs that shade them from light. Their 100 or so tentacles are arranged in three rings around the mouth, with the longest on the outer rim. When illuminated with ultraviolet light, this anemone becomes fluorescent, shining like a beautiful jewel.

Diet

Plankton

Size

Up to 0.5 inches

Range

Northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea

Did You Know?

In addition to sexual reproduction, the jewel anemone can reproduce by longitudinal fission, which essentially means tearing itself in half, after which both fragments heal and become new individuals, though genetically identical.

Mandarinfish Mandarinfish

Mandarinfish

The beautiful mandarinfish can be found in shallow protected lagoons and inshore reefs. These shy, slow fish typically live on the bottom among coral rubble in small groups where they seek cover during the day. At night, they emerge to spawn and forage for copepods, gastropods and amphipods, which are tiny shrimp and snails.

Size

Up to 3 inches

Range

Southwest Pacific Ocean

Diet

Crustaceans, worms, mollusks, fish eggs

Did You Know?

Just as the sun sets each night, groups of mandarinfish emerge from their daytime hiding places seeking a mating partner. Under the romantic golden hour light, a male who has successfully courted a female then swims close to her at the pelvic fin. Then the pair swim up from the reef towards the water’s surface, cheek to cheek, until finally releasing a cloud of sperm and eggs that fertilize in the water column and drift away to hopefully become baby mandarinfish.

Red Lionfish Red Lionfish

Red Lionfish

Red lionfish are formidable hunters, engulfing their prey in one lightning-fast strike and swallowed whole. Documented to consume more than 50 species of fish, a lionfish's stomach is as big as their appetite, able to expand up to 30 times its regular size!

Size

Up to 15 inches

Diet

Fish, crustaceans

Venomous

18 venomous spines

Range

Indo-Pacific region

Habitat

Coral and rocky reefs

Did You Know?

Due to either purposeful or accidental human introduction, red lionfish are now an established invasive species in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. Their huge appetites coupled with a lack of natural predators have created an ecological disaster, devastating native fish populations.

Swell Shark Swell Shark

Swell Shark

This sluggish, nocturnal shark prefers the rocky, algae-spotted shallows of the eastern Pacific Ocean, where it ambushes prey and grows to a maximum size of 43 inches long.

Conservation Status

Least concern

Diet

Fish, crustaceans

Range

Eastern Pacific Ocean

Did You Know?

This shark is not aggressive and, when threatened, can curve its body into a U-shape and gulp water into its stomach, swelling to almost twice its size and becoming difficult to bite.

Pacific Spotted Shrimp Pacific Spotted Shrimp

Pacific Spotted Shrimp

Pacific spotted shrimp spend their days in deeper ocean waters, but at sundown, migrate closer to the surface to mate and find prey, returning to the depths for safety when the sun rises.

Size

Up to 10 inches

Range

Northeast Pacific Ocean

Habitat

Deep rocky or sandy bottom areas

Diet

Worms, carcasses, mollusks, sponges

Did You Know?

All Pacific spotted shrimp are males during the first few years of life before eventually changing to female.

Japanese Spider Crab Japanese Spider Crab

Japanese Spider Crab

Typically found on the sandy or rocky bottom of the continental shelf around 400-900 feet, Japanese spider crabs have been found as deep as 2,000 feet! Though not the heaviest, this crab is the largest known living arthropod. Using eight walking legs and two legs with claws called chelipeds, they slowly wander the dark depths, scavenging animal carcasses that fall from above. The chelipeds of an adult male are considerably longer than his walking legs, while an adult female has chelipeds shorter than her walking legs.

Size

Legspan up to 12 feet

Range

Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Diet

Carrion, mollusks, algae, worms

Did You Know?

This crab’s body stays the same size once it becomes an adult, but the legs keep growing.

Yellow Tang Yellow Tang

Yellow Tang

The yellow tang may be solitary, or is often found in large social groups which may contain hundreds of individuals while feeding during the day. Named for their bright yellow color, this fish is an unmistakable and iconic reef inhabitant.

Diet

Algae

Habitat

Coral reefs

Size

Up to 8 inches

Range

Central Pacific island chains

Did You Know?

Algae feeders like yellow tangs play a crucial role in coral reef ecosystems. By keeping algae in check, they prevent fast growing seaweeds from choking out the slower growing corals. Algae feeders like yellow tangs play a crucial role in coral reef ecosystems. By keeping algae in check, they prevent fast growing seaweeds from choking out the slower growing corals.

Sinuous Cactus Coral Sinuous Cactus Coral

Sinuous Cactus Coral

Found in shallow, protected reef environments, the sinuous cactus coral is a fleshy coral that prefers moderate light levels and low water flow. This uncommon coral is typically shades of green but may also be lavender or even yellow, with contrasting colors in the valleys of the polyps. At night, this coral inflates its polyps and extends its tentacles to capture zooplankton.

Diet

Zooplankton

Size

Up to 8 inches

Range

Western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea

Did You Know?

While the sinuous cactus coral can capture plankton, this only meets about half of its nutritional requirements. The other half comes from the sun through a special type of algae called zooxanthellae, which live in the coral's tissues. The zooxanthellae convert sunlight into glucose, glycerol, and amino acids, which are the products of photosynthesis. The coral uses these products to make proteins, fats, and carbohydrates and produce calcium carbonate.

Yellowtail Clownfish Yellowtail Clownfish

Yellowtail Clownfish

Yellowtail clownfish are found in sheltered lagoons and coral reefs, almost always living within the tentacles of an anemone. They have been documented to form a mutualistic relationship with all 10 species of anemone that are known to host clownfish. In a group of clownfish, there is a strict dominance hierarchy. The largest and most aggressive fish is the lone female; she dominates the largest male, who in turn dominates the smaller males. Yellowtail clownfish always have three vertical white bars, but their body coloration can vary widely depending on geographic location.

Diet

Plankton

Size

Up to 6 inches

Range

Indo-Pacific region

Did You Know?

To develop a resistance to the anemone's sting, clownfish will repeatedly brush up against the tentacles until they begin to produce a protective mucus coating that covers their body. Special chemicals in the mucus layer can block stings from the anemone’s nematocysts.

Stonefish Stonefish

Stonefish

Stonefish are extremely well camouflaged, looking like an encrusted rock or lump of coral. Individuals are usually brown or grey and may have yellow, orange or red patches. They typically live on rubble or coral bottoms, often under rocks or ledges, but are also known to be able to bury in sand using their large pectoral fins. They are ambush predators, who wait for prey to swim past and then strike with incredible speed, engulfing their prey whole.

Size

Up to 16 inches

Diet

Fish, crustaceans

Range

Indo-Pacific region

Did You Know?

The stonefish is the most venomous fish in the world! They have thirteen stout dorsal fin spines, like hypodermic needles, which, when threatened by a predator, can inject venom with both cardiovascular and neuromuscular toxicity. This venom can be deadly to humans, though an anti-venom is commercially available.

Pacific Sea Nettle Pacific Sea Nettle

Pacific Sea Nettle

Pacific sea nettles form massive open ocean groups at the surface where light-fueled plankton are most abundant, especially during summer. These massive groups may become more common as jelly populations rapidly increase due to changing environmental conditions and fewer predators like sea turtles.

Diet

Zooplankton

Range

Northern Pacific Ocean

Size

Up to 12 inches wide and 180 inches long

Did You Know?

The genus name of sea nettles, Chrysaora, is derived from the Greek mythological character Chrysaor, which translates to "golden blade." With its golden bell and stinging tentacles capable of quickly neutralizing prey, Chrysaor is an apt name for this species.

Giant Pacific Octopus Giant Pacific Octopus

Giant Pacific Octopus

The giant Pacific octopus can be found as deep as 3,000 feet or more, though they prefer to inhabit shallow water caves, often near kelp forests. Unlike many smaller octopuses that may only live a year, the giant Pacific octopus typically lives 3-5 years, not mating until the end of its life.

Size

Armspan up to 20 feet

Range

Northern Pacific Ocean

Diet

Crustaceans, mollusks, fish

Did You Know?

Octopuses have a much larger nervous system than any other invertebrate, about 500 million neurons, about the same amount as a dog. Most of these neurons are located in their arms, nearly twice as many as in the central brain, which provides them not only a sense of touch but also the capacity to sense chemicals analogous to smell or taste.

What's Inside

Exhibits Nearby

What's Inside

Exhibits Nearby

Ocean Realm

Be amazed by life under the sea and mesmerized by schooling fish, camouflaged flounders, and much more!

Meet the Species
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