They acquired Philippine crocs from where (sex, age)?
Den Blå Planet The Blue Planet
I've not asked after they received them and there may have been a change, but perhaps 6 months ago (months before they got them) I spoke to a keeper who said that they were talking about getting specimens from Krokodille Zoo in Eskilstrup, Denmark, which has several and also bred it. Blue Planet are working with the Mabuwaya foundation.
A rather long post. For people not reading it all, I guess the major non-fish news for most zoochatters are breeding olive sea snakes, breeding moriche oriole, and highland streaked tenrec now kept offshow.
Four earlier questions in this thread that hadn't been fully answered:
* How big are the Philippine crocodiles? Small, 1-1.5 meter long. At least 4 individuals.
* Will the sea otters breed or are they subjected to the same restrictions as all the captives in USA, which also are rescues owned by US Fish and Wildlife? The restrictions put in place for US sea otters also apply to the ones in Blå Planet. I believe they said the male or female was sterilized, but I barely heard it and it might be medical contraception instead. The sea otters that recently arrived in Brest (France) are also US-based and presumably subjected to the same restrictions.
* Why the rock pillars in the large North Atlantic ocean/sea bird tank? Apparently they are supposed to be an immitation of basalt pillars seen at a bird colony on a North Atlantic island. I didn't hear the exact island, but they are quite similar in form to the columns in Hofsos in Iceland and Frodba in Faroe (mostly grey, but also have reddish sections). I wish they'd explained that at the exhibit, as I was unaware of the existence of such columns until a recent visit to Iceland and only heard what the Blå Planet exhibit was supposed to represent when I specifically asked a keeper. Earlier I just assumed it was an unfortunate example of "artistic freedom" in an exhibit, unlike anything in the wild.
* How big is the piranha tank? I don't have an exact number, but did see a publication saying "more than 100,000 liters" and that seems about right.
Some news. Unless otherwise noted, I saw these species on my last visit. Note that this actually is based on a visit several weeks ago; some things might have changed.
Full list of birds currently kept (in North Atlantic tank, above African Great lakes and in rainforest): Atlantic puffin, common eider, Inca tern (in North Atlantic tank since 2016! However, apparently only on temporary loan from another zoo to test some free-flight issues in the tank), white-eared turaco, violet turaco, common emerald dove, red-flanked lorikket (unsigned in rainforest; may leave unless they can find a mate to their single male with the goal if reducing his aggression; he has attacked nesting passerines), scarlet-headed blackbird, moriche oriole (unsigned in rainforest; only arrived earlier this year but already bred successfully), red siskin, green honeycreeper (unsigned in rainforest; recently bred but failed; see red-flanked lorikeet for reason), red-headed parrotfinch, Gouldian finch, black-cheeked waxbill, zebra waxbill, Cuban grassquit (in rainforest, unsigned).
Full list of mammals currently kept: Sea otter, highland streaked tenrec (not seen by me, but kept offshow and apparently sometimes taken out for show-and-tell; short video on their instagram), Seba's short-tailed bat, some gerbil species (offshow).
Full list of reptiles & amphibians currently kept: Philippine crocodile, olive sea snake (bred last month; only the second time this species has bred in captivity, after the first success at Reef HQ in Australia earlier this year), boa constrictor (offshow, sometimes out for show-and-tell), corn snake (offshow, sometimes out for show-and-tell), plumed basilisk (unsigned, free-living in rainforest), veiled chameleon (unsigned, free-living in rainforest), greater Madagascar day gecko (unsigned, above African lakes exhibit), alligator snapping turtle (the scientific work validating M. apalachicolae as a separate species has been questioned, and as a consequence Blå Planet now list theirs as M. temminckii again, although recognizing that it is the Apalachicola morphotype), mata-mata turtle, West African mud turtle, pig-nosed turtle, axolotl, edible frog, common toad, tomato frog (free-living in rainforest, good luck seeing it!), red-eyed tree frog (unsigned, free-living in rainforest, good luck seeing it!), Golfodulcean poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), golden poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), yellow-banded poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), harlequin poison frog. Not a reptile/amphibian, but there are apparently also free-living and breeding vampire crabs in the rainforest (did not see them and you'd need a lot of luck!).
Fish news, mostly (this is not a complete list, just some of the news; I'm not repeating anything I already mentioned in my post at the bottom of Zoos that are the only one to hold a species. [all in that post are on-show]): giant guitarfish have been re-identified (Rhynchobatus australiae, was R. djiddensis; however there are strong indications that their small ones actually are a third species - several new Rhynchobatus species have been described in recent years and possible undescribed species remain), short-tailed nurse shark (offshow as part of a research project by Copenhagen University, don't know if they'll go on-show), coral catshark (offshow), Rhinopias scorpionfish (offshow and my view was too brief to identify exact species), several interesting poeciliids offshow (for example, Montezuma swordtail and undescribed species; the on-show aquarium that formerly held Montezuma is now home to the Xalapa form of green swordtail and adjacent has cardinal brachy), Russian sturgeon sign has been corrected (had scientific name A. sturio, now correct A. gueldenstaedtii), blue whale catfish (offshow, but apparently supposed to go on-show later), North Pacific section has turned into a deep ocean section with giant Pacific octopus, Japanese spider crab, Paralomis hystrix crab, yelloweye rockfish and longspine snipefish (other North Pacific animals have moved to North Atlantic tank [wolf-eel, canary rockfish, quillback rockfish, copper rockfish, masked greenling, kelp greenling, cabezon, padded sculpin] and North Atlantic small animals [giant green sea anemone, unsigned], but this is apparently temporary), South American lungfish, Potamotrygon tigrina stingray, Campylomormyrus numenius elephanfish, Brycon amazonicus characid, zebra shovelnose catfish, giant raphael catfish, Kelber's peacock bass, Guianacara owroewefi cichlid, gulper catfish (I was lucky to see it in one of the large rainforest tanks; luck necessary!), Crenicichla cincta pike cichlid (only arrived a few months ago, already bred, might be first in the world?), Crenicichla johanna pike cichlid, giant tanganyika cichlid, big-mouth hap cichlid, Malawi trout cichlid, Dimidiochromis strigatus cichlid (easily missed as the aquarium also holds the very similar Malawi eyebiter), Benthochromis tricoti cichlid, Phenacogrammus aurantiacus tetra, longfin tetra, banded ctenopoma, eyespot synodontis, Synodontis filamentosus catfish, black-spotted synodontis, Synodontis soloni catfish, Acestridium dichromum catfish (offshow, but apparently just moved on-show; good luck seeing it!), Nile puffer, Burmese archerfish (offshow), swallowtail seaperch.
Because of the fairly large offshow sections there are undoubtedly species I missed and some of these may move on-show later. For example, despite offshow visits I had completely missed the fairly large zebra shovelnose catfish, a species that only recently was put on-show, but apparently had been offshow for a year. It also makes it a bit tricky to figure out if a species isn't kept anymore or just moved offshow.
Major species that I'm fairly certain are no longer at the collection: African dwarf crocodile, panther chameleon, tassled wobbegong, Australian lungfish, Amazon leaffish, Tanganyika lates, bigeye lates.
Four earlier questions in this thread that hadn't been fully answered:
* How big are the Philippine crocodiles? Small, 1-1.5 meter long. At least 4 individuals.
* Will the sea otters breed or are they subjected to the same restrictions as all the captives in USA, which also are rescues owned by US Fish and Wildlife? The restrictions put in place for US sea otters also apply to the ones in Blå Planet. I believe they said the male or female was sterilized, but I barely heard it and it might be medical contraception instead. The sea otters that recently arrived in Brest (France) are also US-based and presumably subjected to the same restrictions.
* Why the rock pillars in the large North Atlantic ocean/sea bird tank? Apparently they are supposed to be an immitation of basalt pillars seen at a bird colony on a North Atlantic island. I didn't hear the exact island, but they are quite similar in form to the columns in Hofsos in Iceland and Frodba in Faroe (mostly grey, but also have reddish sections). I wish they'd explained that at the exhibit, as I was unaware of the existence of such columns until a recent visit to Iceland and only heard what the Blå Planet exhibit was supposed to represent when I specifically asked a keeper. Earlier I just assumed it was an unfortunate example of "artistic freedom" in an exhibit, unlike anything in the wild.
* How big is the piranha tank? I don't have an exact number, but did see a publication saying "more than 100,000 liters" and that seems about right.
Some news. Unless otherwise noted, I saw these species on my last visit. Note that this actually is based on a visit several weeks ago; some things might have changed.
Full list of birds currently kept (in North Atlantic tank, above African Great lakes and in rainforest): Atlantic puffin, common eider, Inca tern (in North Atlantic tank since 2016! However, apparently only on temporary loan from another zoo to test some free-flight issues in the tank), white-eared turaco, violet turaco, common emerald dove, red-flanked lorikket (unsigned in rainforest; may leave unless they can find a mate to their single male with the goal if reducing his aggression; he has attacked nesting passerines), scarlet-headed blackbird, moriche oriole (unsigned in rainforest; only arrived earlier this year but already bred successfully), red siskin, green honeycreeper (unsigned in rainforest; recently bred but failed; see red-flanked lorikeet for reason), red-headed parrotfinch, Gouldian finch, black-cheeked waxbill, zebra waxbill, Cuban grassquit (in rainforest, unsigned).
Full list of mammals currently kept: Sea otter, highland streaked tenrec (not seen by me, but kept offshow and apparently sometimes taken out for show-and-tell; short video on their instagram), Seba's short-tailed bat, some gerbil species (offshow).
Full list of reptiles & amphibians currently kept: Philippine crocodile, olive sea snake (bred last month; only the second time this species has bred in captivity, after the first success at Reef HQ in Australia earlier this year), boa constrictor (offshow, sometimes out for show-and-tell), corn snake (offshow, sometimes out for show-and-tell), plumed basilisk (unsigned, free-living in rainforest), veiled chameleon (unsigned, free-living in rainforest), greater Madagascar day gecko (unsigned, above African lakes exhibit), alligator snapping turtle (the scientific work validating M. apalachicolae as a separate species has been questioned, and as a consequence Blå Planet now list theirs as M. temminckii again, although recognizing that it is the Apalachicola morphotype), mata-mata turtle, West African mud turtle, pig-nosed turtle, axolotl, edible frog, common toad, tomato frog (free-living in rainforest, good luck seeing it!), red-eyed tree frog (unsigned, free-living in rainforest, good luck seeing it!), Golfodulcean poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), golden poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), yellow-banded poison frog (like all poison frogs in rainforest, only signed to group), harlequin poison frog. Not a reptile/amphibian, but there are apparently also free-living and breeding vampire crabs in the rainforest (did not see them and you'd need a lot of luck!).
Fish news, mostly (this is not a complete list, just some of the news; I'm not repeating anything I already mentioned in my post at the bottom of Zoos that are the only one to hold a species. [all in that post are on-show]): giant guitarfish have been re-identified (Rhynchobatus australiae, was R. djiddensis; however there are strong indications that their small ones actually are a third species - several new Rhynchobatus species have been described in recent years and possible undescribed species remain), short-tailed nurse shark (offshow as part of a research project by Copenhagen University, don't know if they'll go on-show), coral catshark (offshow), Rhinopias scorpionfish (offshow and my view was too brief to identify exact species), several interesting poeciliids offshow (for example, Montezuma swordtail and undescribed species; the on-show aquarium that formerly held Montezuma is now home to the Xalapa form of green swordtail and adjacent has cardinal brachy), Russian sturgeon sign has been corrected (had scientific name A. sturio, now correct A. gueldenstaedtii), blue whale catfish (offshow, but apparently supposed to go on-show later), North Pacific section has turned into a deep ocean section with giant Pacific octopus, Japanese spider crab, Paralomis hystrix crab, yelloweye rockfish and longspine snipefish (other North Pacific animals have moved to North Atlantic tank [wolf-eel, canary rockfish, quillback rockfish, copper rockfish, masked greenling, kelp greenling, cabezon, padded sculpin] and North Atlantic small animals [giant green sea anemone, unsigned], but this is apparently temporary), South American lungfish, Potamotrygon tigrina stingray, Campylomormyrus numenius elephanfish, Brycon amazonicus characid, zebra shovelnose catfish, giant raphael catfish, Kelber's peacock bass, Guianacara owroewefi cichlid, gulper catfish (I was lucky to see it in one of the large rainforest tanks; luck necessary!), Crenicichla cincta pike cichlid (only arrived a few months ago, already bred, might be first in the world?), Crenicichla johanna pike cichlid, giant tanganyika cichlid, big-mouth hap cichlid, Malawi trout cichlid, Dimidiochromis strigatus cichlid (easily missed as the aquarium also holds the very similar Malawi eyebiter), Benthochromis tricoti cichlid, Phenacogrammus aurantiacus tetra, longfin tetra, banded ctenopoma, eyespot synodontis, Synodontis filamentosus catfish, black-spotted synodontis, Synodontis soloni catfish, Acestridium dichromum catfish (offshow, but apparently just moved on-show; good luck seeing it!), Nile puffer, Burmese archerfish (offshow), swallowtail seaperch.
Because of the fairly large offshow sections there are undoubtedly species I missed and some of these may move on-show later. For example, despite offshow visits I had completely missed the fairly large zebra shovelnose catfish, a species that only recently was put on-show, but apparently had been offshow for a year. It also makes it a bit tricky to figure out if a species isn't kept anymore or just moved offshow.
Major species that I'm fairly certain are no longer at the collection: African dwarf crocodile, panther chameleon, tassled wobbegong, Australian lungfish, Amazon leaffish, Tanganyika lates, bigeye lates.
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Correction: Anthony's poison frog. They could also have Golfodulcean (since their poison frogs are free-living in the rainforest), but I did not see that species. Apparently, the various poison frogs in the rainforest exhibit all breed regularly. Also forgot African clawed frog in amphibian section of previous post.
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By the way: The uniqueness of the species mentioned in that thread remain accurate as far as I know. The one exception is B. rousseauxii, which I saw at Shedd, USA, last week (had not seen in there before or heard about it elsewhere).
reading through the thread from the beginning, the rainforest at Blue Planet was an Amazon forest. Now they seem to have all sorts of non-Amazon animals in it like tomato frogs and veiled chameleons and red-flanked lorikeets. Have they simply made it a "general" exhibit or is this a different forest to the Amazon one?
Yes, Amazon only lasted for perhaps half a year, then the above-water turned into worldwide tropics just called "rainforest" with South/Central American, Asian and African birds, reptiles, amphibians and inverts. However, the aquatic sections in the rainforest remain tropical South American (primarily Amazon basin; a few Orinoco and West-Andean rivers) with only four exceptions: Philippine crocodile, Asian arowana, goonch catfish and silver flying fox. Among freshwater tanks elsewhere in the aquarium, only Danish freshwater tanks, African Great Lakes tanks, African river tank, discus tank (various South American species) and angelfish tank (various South American species) remain strongly tied to geography. Other freshwater tanks are generally either based on habitat (e.g., fast-flowing tropical river), morphology (e.g., armour) or a primary species with others inhabitants as fillers (e.g., archerfish). This leaves one without the clear geographic pattern found in many aquariums, but has the advantage of giving them the possibility of focusing on various adaptions (Denmark is strong evolution country, nothing controversial about teaching that at an aquarium; unlike in some countries).
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BTW, they're pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, from the East African population (location is important as it likely will be split into several species in the future). They've kept and bred it for quite some time, but the species only recently moved on-show.
A few days ago I was in Copenhagen and I was quite impressed with this aquarium. Many of the individual tanks are landscaped to a high level and it is a pity that it are the star attractions that have a slightly lower level than the rest of the aquarium. The main tank is quite impressive, but feels smaller than it could have been given its volume. This is probably because of the somewhat weird shape. The sea otter enclosure was somewhat ugly from the outside, but still the biggest one I have seen in Europe and the two otters were very active and playful without any stereotypic behaviour. The Bird cliffs were quite smallish and only a few birds of each species were present... But the fish were quite impressive. Contrary to many other aquaria there is hardly any geographic focus in what is kept in each tank, especially in the freshwater aquaria. Focus is more on habitats and body type, which is maybe unconventional but seems to work fine.
The signage in this aquarium is the most impressive I have seen in a long term, every aquarium has a touch screen with information in 3 languages (Danish, Swedish, English) on the aquarium itself and practically all its inhabitants. I could find very few species that were not signed but present, though it felt that some aquaria had more signed inhabitants than were actually present.... The collection is also quite comprehensive, but at the moment there were no Sea dragons, Sea snakes or Crocodiles on show, which was something of a disappointment.... It was also surprisingly uncrowded for a weekend day and most visitors were Danes, I later found out all international tourists were looking at Giant panda in the zoo.
We easily spent 3 hours here and this surely is one of the best aquariums I have ever visited. If you would combine the main tank of say Lisbon with all the other tanks here, one would have what is possibly the best aquarium in Europe...
The signage in this aquarium is the most impressive I have seen in a long term, every aquarium has a touch screen with information in 3 languages (Danish, Swedish, English) on the aquarium itself and practically all its inhabitants. I could find very few species that were not signed but present, though it felt that some aquaria had more signed inhabitants than were actually present.... The collection is also quite comprehensive, but at the moment there were no Sea dragons, Sea snakes or Crocodiles on show, which was something of a disappointment.... It was also surprisingly uncrowded for a weekend day and most visitors were Danes, I later found out all international tourists were looking at Giant panda in the zoo.
We easily spent 3 hours here and this surely is one of the best aquariums I have ever visited. If you would combine the main tank of say Lisbon with all the other tanks here, one would have what is possibly the best aquarium in Europe...
Are there still 10 scalloped hamerhead sharks at the aquarium ? What are the sexes ?
There are still about 7-8 of them, it is difficult to count them. I don't know their sexes though...
2 (male, female) new sea otters arrived from Alaska in October and are now living with the 2 original sea otters. Apparently their introduction to the original was very easy, even surprising the keepers. The new ones, just like the original, are non-breeders per US requirements.
Nobody has ever given the impression that they would breed. Since they're rescues that can't be released the US Fish & Wildlife Service (the American government agency that manages wildlife and the like) basically sends the surplus they have to make space for new rescues. Also, reading my earlier post, I mistakenly said the two new ones are male and female. They're not. The original are a male and female. The new are both males. So, there are now 3 males, 1 female at the aquarium. The males are castrated.
The no breeding rule is not restricted to those in Europe, but is the standard for all sea otters that are under governance of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, which includes all rescues from the US. It has been like that for a long time and it has also been openly stated by Blue Planet themselves.
I uploaded approximately 50 photos from Den Bla Planet Aquarium into the gallery. A comprehensive review of the facility will appear on my Snowleopard's 2022 Road Trip: Denmark, Sweden & Norway thread.
Visited this collection for the first time last week, and I must say that I am impressed with it! The quality of both the visitor areas as well as the tanks is incredible, really giving off the vibe of a "national aquarium." And then I haven't even mentioned the high number of incredibly rare species!
People has probably described the collection similarly to this before, but as aquariums tend to switch up the species and themes regularly, I thought I would make a short "guide" here anyway.
The collection is separated into three different areas, which I will describe below.
Section 1 (Northern lakes and seas):
This section is to the right after the entrance desk. In the first room, "Northern Lakes and Seas," you will see several small and larger aquariums on the left wall, filled with species mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. Some themed aquariums here are "Danish Lake," "Danish Stream," Alaskan Kelp Forest, and "The Nordic Coasts." In the middle of this room, there is a small area with several different "touch pool" aquariums. Some of the more unique species you can see in this first room are Quillback Rockfish (Sebastes maliger), Black-banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus chaetodon), Kelp Greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus), and Ocellated Wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus).
At the end of this room, you can either go left around a corner or exit through a glass door to the outdoor area. The outdoor area does not have much when it comes to animals, but it's out here that you get the best chance to see the Alaskan sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). Out here, they also have a "wild pond" where you can see wild animals, as well as, of course, the great view over the sea and the Øresund Bridge. If you go back in through the same glass door and then keep following the path to the right, you will enter a larger room with the Faroese bird cliff exhibit. This exhibit is quite impressive, with a huge window showing both water-living species like Saithe (Pollachius virens), Nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris), and Gilt-head Bream (Sparus aurata), together with Pacific Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla pollicaris), Red-legged Kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris), and Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) on the surface living together in (hopefully) harmony. I did not see the puffins, though! In this same room, there is an underwater viewing of the otter exhibit, but the main part of their exhibit is outdoors.
If you keep following the path, you will get to the last three aquariums of this section, Northern Lakes and Seas. In these aquariums, you can see species such as North Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), John Dory (Zeus faber), and Atlantic Wolfish (Anarhichas lupus).
Section 2 (Tropical lakes and rivers):
While the first section is completely separated from the other two, the second and third sections connect, so if you enter the second section, you will later exit from the third section. The second section starts with a few large aquariums in a corner on the left side, containing many different species of cichlids, as well as other species like Common African Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus), Snake Catfish (Clarias theodorae), Leleup's Karp (Labeobarbus leleupanus), among many others. Rerouting back to the start of this section and going straight instead of to the left, you will see several aquariums on the wall on the left side, with very unique species like, for example, Orinoco Dolphin Catfish (Ageneiosus magoi), Red-lipped Badi River Cichlid (Wallaceochromis rubrolabiatus), and Vari's Electric Eel (Electrophorus varii).
At the end of this room is a glass door taking you into the rainforest walk-through hall. Here, you can either walk along the larger main path, with different "pools" on the sides containing species like *****, or you can decide to take a small wooden boardwalk into the vegetation which ends right before the exit of the hall. This is probably the best way to see many of the lizards, frogs, and other insects in the hall. The hall contains surprisingly many different species of lizards, some of them being Chameleon Forest Dragon (Gonocephalus chamaeleontinus), Sulawesi Water Skink (Tropidophorus baconi), and different species of anoles and geckos. Several birds are kept free-flying in here as well, like Violet Turaco (Tauraco violaceus), Lesser Antillean Bullfinch (Loxigilla noctis), and Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa), as well as Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus didactylus), Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius), and several different species of frogs and insects.
When you're done looking at the animals above water, you can take a staircase down underground where you will see the same "pools" but from down under, in "aquarium view." Here you can see wonderful Arapaimas (Arapaima gigas) up close, as well as many other species, including, for example, at least four species of piranhas, three species of arowanas, and many more.
Exiting the hall through the glass door at the end of the tropical hall takes you to a room with several aquariums on all the walls around you, and benches in the middle. Here you can see, for example, Orinoco Thicklip Catfish (Rhinodoras gallagheri), four species of rainbowfish, Electric Catfish (Malapterurus electricus), North African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus), and over 40 species of plecos, as well as Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) and turtles.
After this room, you enter the third section, "The Ocean."
Section 3 (The Ocean):
If you enter this section through the second section, the first thing you will meet is the large ocean tank which also has a tunnel for visitors. This tank contains many different species, like, for example, Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Bowmouth Guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma), Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica), Potato Groupers (Epinephelus tukula), Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), and Target Fish (Terapon jarbua). They list about 35 different species for this tank.
Following the path, you get to a "corridor" with smaller aquariums on the left side and a large touch pool on the right side, the "Tropical Touchpool," which contains species like Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica), Epaulette Shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum), High-hat (Pareques acuminatus), and Raccoon Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula). In the smaller aquariums to the left, you can see species such as Common Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa), Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi), Janss's Pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi), Starry Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus), and Canary Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus).
Right after this corridor, you enter a larger room with a large coral reef tank to the right, and the rest of the room is designated for an exhibition about Paleozoic Marine species. In the large coral reef tank, you can observe species like Orange-band Surgeonfish (Acanthurus olivaceus), Blue-cheeked Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus), Elongate Surgeonfish (Acanthurus mata), Sleek Unicornfish (Naso hexacanthus), and many more.
Also, it's worth mentioning again that their signs are excellent! They're in three languages (Danish, Swedish, and English) and always include scientific names too. And let's not forget their amazing app! It's really great! You can check out every aquarium/exhibit in the park and see which species are there. So far, I haven't found many mistakes - it almost seems like it's linked up with the digital information signs next to the exhibits!
People has probably described the collection similarly to this before, but as aquariums tend to switch up the species and themes regularly, I thought I would make a short "guide" here anyway.
The collection is separated into three different areas, which I will describe below.
Section 1 (Northern lakes and seas):
This section is to the right after the entrance desk. In the first room, "Northern Lakes and Seas," you will see several small and larger aquariums on the left wall, filled with species mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. Some themed aquariums here are "Danish Lake," "Danish Stream," Alaskan Kelp Forest, and "The Nordic Coasts." In the middle of this room, there is a small area with several different "touch pool" aquariums. Some of the more unique species you can see in this first room are Quillback Rockfish (Sebastes maliger), Black-banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus chaetodon), Kelp Greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus), and Ocellated Wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus).
At the end of this room, you can either go left around a corner or exit through a glass door to the outdoor area. The outdoor area does not have much when it comes to animals, but it's out here that you get the best chance to see the Alaskan sea otters (Enhydra lutris kenyoni). Out here, they also have a "wild pond" where you can see wild animals, as well as, of course, the great view over the sea and the Øresund Bridge. If you go back in through the same glass door and then keep following the path to the right, you will enter a larger room with the Faroese bird cliff exhibit. This exhibit is quite impressive, with a huge window showing both water-living species like Saithe (Pollachius virens), Nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris), and Gilt-head Bream (Sparus aurata), together with Pacific Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla pollicaris), Red-legged Kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris), and Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) on the surface living together in (hopefully) harmony. I did not see the puffins, though! In this same room, there is an underwater viewing of the otter exhibit, but the main part of their exhibit is outdoors.
If you keep following the path, you will get to the last three aquariums of this section, Northern Lakes and Seas. In these aquariums, you can see species such as North Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), John Dory (Zeus faber), and Atlantic Wolfish (Anarhichas lupus).
Section 2 (Tropical lakes and rivers):
While the first section is completely separated from the other two, the second and third sections connect, so if you enter the second section, you will later exit from the third section. The second section starts with a few large aquariums in a corner on the left side, containing many different species of cichlids, as well as other species like Common African Tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus), Snake Catfish (Clarias theodorae), Leleup's Karp (Labeobarbus leleupanus), among many others. Rerouting back to the start of this section and going straight instead of to the left, you will see several aquariums on the wall on the left side, with very unique species like, for example, Orinoco Dolphin Catfish (Ageneiosus magoi), Red-lipped Badi River Cichlid (Wallaceochromis rubrolabiatus), and Vari's Electric Eel (Electrophorus varii).
At the end of this room is a glass door taking you into the rainforest walk-through hall. Here, you can either walk along the larger main path, with different "pools" on the sides containing species like *****, or you can decide to take a small wooden boardwalk into the vegetation which ends right before the exit of the hall. This is probably the best way to see many of the lizards, frogs, and other insects in the hall. The hall contains surprisingly many different species of lizards, some of them being Chameleon Forest Dragon (Gonocephalus chamaeleontinus), Sulawesi Water Skink (Tropidophorus baconi), and different species of anoles and geckos. Several birds are kept free-flying in here as well, like Violet Turaco (Tauraco violaceus), Lesser Antillean Bullfinch (Loxigilla noctis), and Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa), as well as Linnaeus's Two-toed Sloth (Choloepus didactylus), Red-footed Tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius), and several different species of frogs and insects.
When you're done looking at the animals above water, you can take a staircase down underground where you will see the same "pools" but from down under, in "aquarium view." Here you can see wonderful Arapaimas (Arapaima gigas) up close, as well as many other species, including, for example, at least four species of piranhas, three species of arowanas, and many more.
Exiting the hall through the glass door at the end of the tropical hall takes you to a room with several aquariums on all the walls around you, and benches in the middle. Here you can see, for example, Orinoco Thicklip Catfish (Rhinodoras gallagheri), four species of rainbowfish, Electric Catfish (Malapterurus electricus), North African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus), and over 40 species of plecos, as well as Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) and turtles.
After this room, you enter the third section, "The Ocean."
Section 3 (The Ocean):
If you enter this section through the second section, the first thing you will meet is the large ocean tank which also has a tunnel for visitors. This tank contains many different species, like, for example, Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna lewini), Bowmouth Guitarfish (Rhina ancylostoma), Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica), Potato Groupers (Epinephelus tukula), Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta), and Target Fish (Terapon jarbua). They list about 35 different species for this tank.
Following the path, you get to a "corridor" with smaller aquariums on the left side and a large touch pool on the right side, the "Tropical Touchpool," which contains species like Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica), Epaulette Shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum), High-hat (Pareques acuminatus), and Raccoon Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula). In the smaller aquariums to the left, you can see species such as Common Stonefish (Synanceia verrucosa), Longsnout Seahorse (Hippocampus reidi), Janss's Pipefish (Doryrhamphus janssi), Starry Dragonet (Synchiropus stellatus), and Canary Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus).
Right after this corridor, you enter a larger room with a large coral reef tank to the right, and the rest of the room is designated for an exhibition about Paleozoic Marine species. In the large coral reef tank, you can observe species like Orange-band Surgeonfish (Acanthurus olivaceus), Blue-cheeked Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus), Elongate Surgeonfish (Acanthurus mata), Sleek Unicornfish (Naso hexacanthus), and many more.
Also, it's worth mentioning again that their signs are excellent! They're in three languages (Danish, Swedish, and English) and always include scientific names too. And let's not forget their amazing app! It's really great! You can check out every aquarium/exhibit in the park and see which species are there. So far, I haven't found many mistakes - it almost seems like it's linked up with the digital information signs next to the exhibits!
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Jorbe
Active Member
After a visit in December 2024, there is some news about the collection:
- Several tanks were rearranged. The big collection of headstanders (Anostomidae) was removed from its former tank and placed with the arapaimas. This has made it more or less impossible to photograph and see all of them.
- Rare new species arrived, including: Phenacogrammus flexus, a tetra that was described in 2021, Kapuasia falaris, a loach that was described in the same month as my visit and a Congo grate catfish (Euchilichthys royauxi). I believe all three are not on display in any public aquarium worldwide.
- One of the two large whiprays in the shark tank was reidentified by myself as a leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda). It was incorrectly signed before. The curator and I also figured out the ID of the other, a more common, specimen.
- The rare fourspot butterflyfish (Chaetodon quadrimaculatus) has unfortunately passed away. But the peppered butterflyfish (Chaetodon guttatissimus) is/are still in great shape.
- I helped take out the last mistakes and the app/website should now be completely correct.
- A small African freshwater pipefish (Enneacampus ansorgii) was added to the collection this month (January 2025).
- Our beloved red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris) is still alive and breaking all age records.
- Several tanks were rearranged. The big collection of headstanders (Anostomidae) was removed from its former tank and placed with the arapaimas. This has made it more or less impossible to photograph and see all of them.
- Rare new species arrived, including: Phenacogrammus flexus, a tetra that was described in 2021, Kapuasia falaris, a loach that was described in the same month as my visit and a Congo grate catfish (Euchilichthys royauxi). I believe all three are not on display in any public aquarium worldwide.
- One of the two large whiprays in the shark tank was reidentified by myself as a leopard whipray (Himantura leoparda). It was incorrectly signed before. The curator and I also figured out the ID of the other, a more common, specimen.
- The rare fourspot butterflyfish (Chaetodon quadrimaculatus) has unfortunately passed away. But the peppered butterflyfish (Chaetodon guttatissimus) is/are still in great shape.
- I helped take out the last mistakes and the app/website should now be completely correct.
- A small African freshwater pipefish (Enneacampus ansorgii) was added to the collection this month (January 2025).
- Our beloved red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris) is still alive and breaking all age records.