the steinhart aquarium

329 Pages·2010·11.57 MB·English

THE STEINHART AQUARIUM

A VIEW FOR AND BY DOCENTS

THE STEINHART AQUARIUM

A FIELD GUIDE FOR AND BY DOCENTS
ii A Docent & Guide View of the Steinhart Aquarium Species
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Steinhart Aquarium, a central part of the California Academy of Sciences since 1923, two years
ago opened a complex of exhibits as innovative and exciting as the institution that houses it. With
the Steinhart’s spectacular return to Golden Gate Park, docents, who everyday share their passion
and insight with the public, needed access to useful information specifically about the ever-growing
and changing Aquarium collection of live animals. This Field Guide along with the photo IDs of the
inhabitants of multispecies tanks hopes to fill an important part of that need.
This digital guide, easy to update, is well suited to track the on-going diversification of Aquarium animals.
Ideally, the Field Guide will be a resource improved and updated by information and suggestions from
our Academy family—curators, staff, docents, guides and other volunteers, and all who love our finny,
tentacled, slithering, gliding, flying, arboreal, aquatic, terrestrial denizens—all 38,000 of them.
This is a book created by volunteers for volunteers; contributors and advisors were many and appreciated!
Researchers and Writers: Maureen Aggeler, Ellen Barth, Roberta Borgonovo, Susan Crocker, Susana
Conde, Pat Dal Porto, Steve Doherty, Arville Finacom, Ann Hardeman, Sandy Linder, Ted Olsson,
Will Meecham, Alan Pabst, Owen Raven, Mary Roberts, Maggie Scott, Alice Settle, Elizabeth Shultz.
Peter Schmidt earns a special star for the original conception of a field guide and for writing well over
half of the entries, even more if the first two editions are counted.
Photography: Nearly all the pictures within these pages were taken by Ron DeCloux, whose skill and
commitment add an important visual component to our understanding. See his complete portfolio at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/collections.
Support: The Aquarium staff answered many questions almost more quickly than we could frame
them, especially Tom Tucker, Bart Shepherd, Dave Chan, Nicole Chaney, Charles Delbeek, Jim
Evans, Frank Glennon, Brenda Melton, Kristen Natoli, Rich Ross, Pam Schaller, Matt Wandell, Seth
Wolters, Nick Yim, and others.
This is actually the fourth edition of a Steinhart Guide for and by docents. Many curators and other
staff members have given us help along the way. We hope their patient explanations are reflected
in these pages. Any inaccuracies are due to the our interpretations, and most certainly not to the
information received.
Special thanks to Kathleen Lilienthal, Manager of Docent and Guide Services, for her unfailing support.
The Docent Materials Group
Sandy Linder, Coordinator
April, 2009
Table of Contents iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword ii
Fish Families 5
Field Guide Introduction 15
Steinhart Aquarium Field Guide 19
ID Pictures
California Coast Main Tank 229
Southern California Tank 237
Tidepool 240
Cal Coast Giants Tank 247
Philippine Coral Reef Main Tank 249
Caribbean Tank 272
Neotropical Forest 276
Amazon Flooded Forest 282
Steinhart Species List 287
Glossary 308
Index 313

Fish Families 5
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FISH FAMILIES
CARCHARINIDAE (REQUIEM SHARKS)
12 genera 50 species
Requiem sharks are probably the largest family of living sharks with worldwide distribution in
all tropical and temperate waters. Many migrate long distances and some enter brackish and
freshwater. Most are small, relatively harmless species; a few are large, dangerous patrollers of
coastal and open water. Better known species include the oceanic whitetip shark, sandbar shark,
bull shark, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, and tiger shark. All have five gill slits, which, like all
sharks, lack a cover (operculum).
Their streamlined body shape and behavior make the group the one people think of as “typical”
sharks. Most are strong active swimmers and deadly hunters, well-equipped for finding and
attacking prey. Like all sharks, they possess special sensing organs called ampullae of Lorenzini,
gel-filled sensory pits on the snout so acute they are able to detect the electric charge produced by
the nerves of another animal’s body, an incredible prey-honing system! Requiem sharks, unlike
many other shark species, also have exceptionally good eyesight, comparable to human vision.
Their teeth are typically serrated and bladelike with a single cusp. Sharks as a group may have
from 6 to 20 rows of teeth, depending on the species. Usually only the first two rows of teeth are
used for feeding. The others are replacement teeth that move forward in conveyor-belt fashion
when older teeth are broken off. Sharks may replace teeth every few days, thus keeping the
functional rows razor sharp.
6 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
All are viviparous except the ovoviviparous tiger shark. In this group, viviparous females have a
placenta, in the form of a yolk sac, carries nourishment from the mother’s body to the young after
the pups have exhausted the food supply in their eggs.
How dangerous are these sharks. Statistics show about 50 shark attacks on humans occur each
year, resulting in about 5 deaths. At least half these attacks are from requiem sharks, most notably
the tiger, oceanic whitetip, and bull shark. As unsettling as those numbers seem, we are more
likely to choke to death on a fish bone than be killed by a shark!
MURAENIDAE (MORAY EELS)
15 genera 200 species
Mostly marine and found worldwide in tropical and temperate seas, this diverse group is noted
for large mouths with numerous sharp teeth. Most species lack pectoral and pelvic fins; the
anal and dorsal fins extend along much of the body and are continuous with the caudal fin. Gill
openings are small and roundish, situated on the side of the head.
Often secretive during the day, morays feed mostly at night on crustaceans, cephalopods, and small
fishes. Their fanglike teeth are designed to tear rather than hold or chew, and can inflict painful
wounds on humans. A second set of jaws in the pharynx can be thrust forward into the mouth to
grasp prey. Like all true eels, their leptocephalus larvae are distinctive and characteristic.
CYPRINIDAE (CARPS, TRUE MINNOWS, AND THEIR RELATIVES)
210 genera 2,010 species
The Cyprinidae, found on all continents except South America, Australia, and Antarctica, is the
largest family of freshwater fishes. Best known species include the goldfish (Carassius auratus)
and the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), which from the 18th century has been bred in Japan in the
ornamental variety known as koi.
Cyprinids as a group have a single dorsal fin, abdominal pelvic fins, a lateral line, and cycloid
scales. They lack teeth in the mouth, but have 1–3 rows of pharyngeal teeth for grinding food
against an opposing horny pad. All cyprinids are egg layers; most species do not guard the eggs.
SYNGNATHIDAE (PIPEFISHES, SEAHORSES, AND SEADRAGONS)
52 genera 215 species
Pipefishes, seahorses and seadragons are characterized by long tubular snouts and elongate
bodies encased in rings of bony plates. The head of pipefishes is in line with the body axis,
while the head of seadragons and seahorses is bent downward from the body’s main axis. Fin
configuration depends on the group; however, all syngnathids are slow-moving species that
depend on cryptic behaviors. Seahorses also possess a prehensile tail that lacks a caudal fin.
Fish Families 7
All members of the family feed on minute invertebrates sucked into the long snout. Because they
lack teeth and a true stomach, digestion is somewhat inefficient, and syngnathids need to feed
almost continuously on their tiny prey.
Reproductive habit is highly unusual in that parental care is mostly left to the male. Seahorse
males possess a ventral brood pouch where eggs are fertilized and incubated after deposition
by the female. Male pipefishes may have a brooding pouch or a simple patch of spongy
material where eggs adhere. Seadragon males carry eggs on an adhesive brood patch under
the tail.
SCORPAENIDAE (SCORPIONFISHES AND ROCKFISHES)
23 genera 172 species
A large family of mostly marine fishes found in all tropical and temperate seas, the scorpionfish
family takes its name from the venomous spines that adorn nearly all its members. Other
characteristics include a compressed body, and most have spines on the head as well as near and
on the operculum. The dorsal fin, while usually single, is often notched and supported by stout
spines. Spines on the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins have venom glands at their bases that, when
compressed, deliver a toxic cocktail to would-be predators or careless humans.
Scorpaenidae is the largest family of fishes along the California coast, where at least 65 species,
including 60 kinds of rockfishes, are known. Rockfishes possess relatively mild toxins, but should
still be handled with care. Fertilization is internal. Some species lay eggs; others give live birth,
including all rockfish species
William Eschmeyer, Curator Emeritus of the Academy, is one of the world’s leading experts on
scorpionfishes.
SERRANIDAE (SEA BASSES, GROUPERS, AND BASSLETS)
62 genera 449 species
Serranidae is a large family of marine fishes. They are usually found over reefs, in tropical to
temperate waters.
The basslets, small, colorful planktivores that in the wild feed primarily on tiny crustaceans
and fish eggs floating in the upper levels of reef waters, are the common serranids found in the
Philippine Coral Reef Exhibit. Like other serranids, basslets are protogynous hermaphrodites; in
other words, they are born female, and a few change sex to become dominant males as breeding
needs arise. They produce large quantities of eggs and their larvae are planktonic, generally at the
mercy of ocean currents until they mature into adults.
8 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
APOGONIDAE (CARDINALFISHES)
22 genera 207 species
Found in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans, cardinalfishes are primarily marine, though some
are found in brackish waters and a few in freshwater streams. Many species inhabit reef flats,
lagoons, and seaward reefs to 60 feet (18 m).
The family is characterized by two separate dorsal fins, large eyes, and a large mouth. The name
derives from the red coloration of some well-known species, though many are drab or striped.
Most remain hidden during the day, and then disperse over the reef at night to feed on
zooplankton and small benthic invertebrates, always remaining close to the substrate. Males of
many species are mouth brooders.
CHAETODONTIDAE (BUTTERFLYFISHES)
10 genera 114 species
Butterflyfishes, with their bright colors, distinctive shape, and interesting behaviors, are among
the most recognizable coral reef fishes. Nearly all are found in tropical waters with the highest
concentration of species occurring in the Indo-West Pacific. All species have a deep, laterally
compressed body with a continuous dorsal fin and distinctive rounded anal fin. Many have a
band across the eye and/or a false eyespot, patterns that may lure a predator to attack the tail
rather than the head.
The mouth is small, terminal, and protrusible with small brushlike teeth. The shape and size of
the jaw varies among species and correlates with the type of prey taken. Some butterflyfishes
prefer small invertebrates, others nibble on coral polyps or graze on algae, and still others feed
on zooplankton. The length of the jaw, which in some species may be quite elongate, allows
partitioning of resources, with some species able to reach a meal unavailable to another.
POMACANTHIDAE (ANGELFISHES)
9 genera 74 species
Brightly colored, large, and elegant, the angelfishes are among the most spectacular of reef fishes.
The family is circumtropical in distribution. Most are found in the tropical Indo-Pacific, mainly on
coral reefs in relatively shallow water.
Like their close relatives the butterflyfishes, they have a deep, laterally compressed body, a single,
unnotched dorsal fin, and a small mouth with brushlike teeth. The most observable difference
between the two families is the long spine at the corner of the preopercle common to angelfishes.
M any angelfi shes also have extensions, often long and graceful, on the back end of the dorsal and
anal fins.
Diet varies among species, ranging from algae, detritus, and plankton to sponges and small,
benthic invertebrates. Typically, they spend daylight hours near the bottom in search of food, and
shelter near boulders or in caves and crevices at night.