I'm pretty sure most everyone loves a mixed exhibit at a zoo. But what would you say is the most number of different species you've ever seen in a single exhibit?
Most number of species in a mixed exhibit?
- Thread starter CrashMegaraptor
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imaginarius
Well-Known Member
Definitely would have to be an aquarium tank — I’ve seen enormous, tropical ones in Japan that hold literally thousands of species.
I would image it is a reef tank or something similar. The most species in an enclosure that is not an aquarium is probably a butterfly house. The largest number of species I have seen in a non-aquarium mixed-species exhibit is the walk-through butterfly room at Detroit with a total of 57 species. Here is the list copied from the species list I kept of the zoo when I visited in the summer of 2019:
Smooth-banded Sister, Mexican Sister, Belus Swallowtail, Gold Rim Swallowtail, Red Rim, Grecian Shoemaker, Mexican Shoemaker, Zebra Mosaic, Crimson Patch, Glasswing, Agalla Clearwing, Red Cracker, Starry Night Cracker, Juno Longwing, Mexican Bluewing, Orange Tiger, Gray Cracker, Variable Cracker, Orange Cracker, Blue Wave, Mexican Bluewing, Blue Morpho, White Morpho, Pale Owl, Narrow-banded Owl, Broad-banded Swallowtail, Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Torquatus Swallowtail, Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Arcas Cattleheart, Iphidamas Cattleheart, Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Montezuma Cattleheart, Zebra Longwing, Small Postman, Postman, Cyndo Longwing, Sapho Longwing, Hecale Longwing, Doris Longwing, Hewison's Longwing, Scarce Bamboo Page, Large Tiger, Cream-colored Tigerwing, Malachite, Rusty-tipped Page, Disturbed Tigerwing, Purple King Shoemaker, Harmonia Tigerwing, Isabella's Longwing, Julia Longwing, Mexican Longwing, Tiger Leafwing, Marbled Longwing, Scarlet Leafwing, Common Olive Wing, Apricot Sulphur
Smooth-banded Sister, Mexican Sister, Belus Swallowtail, Gold Rim Swallowtail, Red Rim, Grecian Shoemaker, Mexican Shoemaker, Zebra Mosaic, Crimson Patch, Glasswing, Agalla Clearwing, Red Cracker, Starry Night Cracker, Juno Longwing, Mexican Bluewing, Orange Tiger, Gray Cracker, Variable Cracker, Orange Cracker, Blue Wave, Mexican Bluewing, Blue Morpho, White Morpho, Pale Owl, Narrow-banded Owl, Broad-banded Swallowtail, Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Torquatus Swallowtail, Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Arcas Cattleheart, Iphidamas Cattleheart, Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Montezuma Cattleheart, Zebra Longwing, Small Postman, Postman, Cyndo Longwing, Sapho Longwing, Hecale Longwing, Doris Longwing, Hewison's Longwing, Scarce Bamboo Page, Large Tiger, Cream-colored Tigerwing, Malachite, Rusty-tipped Page, Disturbed Tigerwing, Purple King Shoemaker, Harmonia Tigerwing, Isabella's Longwing, Julia Longwing, Mexican Longwing, Tiger Leafwing, Marbled Longwing, Scarlet Leafwing, Common Olive Wing, Apricot Sulphur
Mine almost beat BirdsandBats with the Owens Aviary at the San Diego zoo. There are a total of 52 species listed for the Owens Aviary.
Javan Pond Heron, Dollarbird, Nicobar Pigeon, Temminick's Trapogan, White Rumped Shama, Eclectus Parrot, Spotted Laughingthrush, Mount Goliath Lorikeet, Black Naped Fruit Dove, Black Naped Oriole, Grey Capped Emerald Dove, Blue Crowned Laughingthrush, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Chestnut Breasted Malkoha, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White Eared Bulbul, Chinese Hwamei, White Breasted Woodswallow, Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Collared Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Green Imperial Pigeon, Black Bulbul, White Eared Catbird, Black Collared Starling, Philippine Collared Dove, Black-Throated Laughingthrush, Fairy Bluebird, Metallic Starling, Bali Mynah, Purple Naped Lory, Collared Lory, White Naped Pheasant Pigeon, Metallic Pigeon, Indian Pygmy Goose, Fawn Breasted Bowerbird, Chestnut Backed Thrush, Malay Great Argus Pheasant, Pink Necked Green Pigeon, White Breasted Kingfisher, Red-Billed Leiothrix, Collared Finchbill, Scarlet Faced Liocichla, Orange Bellied Leafbird, Golden Crested Myna, Fly River Turtle, Rosy Barb, Chinese Algae Eater, Clown Loach, Green Scat, Giant Danio, Banded Archerfish.
Thank you Anteaterman for the info, I found this on the San Diego zoo full species list on zoo chat.
Javan Pond Heron, Dollarbird, Nicobar Pigeon, Temminick's Trapogan, White Rumped Shama, Eclectus Parrot, Spotted Laughingthrush, Mount Goliath Lorikeet, Black Naped Fruit Dove, Black Naped Oriole, Grey Capped Emerald Dove, Blue Crowned Laughingthrush, Papuan Mountain Pigeon, Chestnut Breasted Malkoha, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White Eared Bulbul, Chinese Hwamei, White Breasted Woodswallow, Victoria Crowned Pigeon, Collared Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Green Imperial Pigeon, Black Bulbul, White Eared Catbird, Black Collared Starling, Philippine Collared Dove, Black-Throated Laughingthrush, Fairy Bluebird, Metallic Starling, Bali Mynah, Purple Naped Lory, Collared Lory, White Naped Pheasant Pigeon, Metallic Pigeon, Indian Pygmy Goose, Fawn Breasted Bowerbird, Chestnut Backed Thrush, Malay Great Argus Pheasant, Pink Necked Green Pigeon, White Breasted Kingfisher, Red-Billed Leiothrix, Collared Finchbill, Scarlet Faced Liocichla, Orange Bellied Leafbird, Golden Crested Myna, Fly River Turtle, Rosy Barb, Chinese Algae Eater, Clown Loach, Green Scat, Giant Danio, Banded Archerfish.
Thank you Anteaterman for the info, I found this on the San Diego zoo full species list on zoo chat.
And probably unknown number of reef invertebrates...
imaginarius
Well-Known Member
Yep! Many times, when aquariums bring in live rock to adorn their reef tanks, there are animals already living in it that they aren’t even aware of! The Monterey Bay Aquarium had this happen with mantis shrimp — some of their small fish started disappearing and they didn’t know why, until they found a pair of peacock mantises that had burrowed into the rock, and only came out at night to feed on the other tank inhabitants.
The stories I've read about Bobbitt Worms are reasons #1-100 for why I will probably never own a fish tank
imaginarius
Well-Known Member
Bobbit Worms are terrifying. If you haven’t seen Blue Planet II, I recommend it, but it may induce wormy nightmares afterward.
It would have to be a some large aquarium for sure, but it would be difficult to tell which has the most overall species. I would say the coral reef exhibit at Reef HQ is a strong contender, if you've ever seen it you will know what I mean.
It's pretty rare for bobbits to come in on live rock, but if you want fish and want to be 100% sure you dont accidentally get a bobbit, get a freshwater tank. Bobbits only live in saltwater.
Aquariums of course as has been said, followed probably by aviaries. But for land mammals and birds and reptiles, I think maybe the most I saw was the South America exhibit at Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Texas. It has (or had when I visited):
king vulture
yellow-headed Amazon parrot
Salvin's pigeon
Inca tern
Collie's magpie jay
white-faced whistling duck
scarlet ibis
Patagonian conure
sun conure
red-footed tortoise
spiny-tailed iguana
green iguana
squirrel monkey
two-toed sloth
mara
agouti
capybara
king vulture
yellow-headed Amazon parrot
Salvin's pigeon
Inca tern
Collie's magpie jay
white-faced whistling duck
scarlet ibis
Patagonian conure
sun conure
red-footed tortoise
spiny-tailed iguana
green iguana
squirrel monkey
two-toed sloth
mara
agouti
capybara
@Moebelle Made a list of every species signed at Shedd Aquarium in 2016 (Full Species List at the Shedd Aquarium [Shedd Aquarium]), so I looked at it to see what the largest species count was in any enclosure there. I was shocked to find that the tank with the most species signed - the Caribbean Reef Tank - has only 55 signed! Of course, the number of species present in this tank is likely slightly higher, but I think that still weird.
I also found out that Minnesota Zoo's reef tank has 97 signed.
I also found out that Minnesota Zoo's reef tank has 97 signed.
Why do aquariums tend to severely undersign their species? Is it more bureaucracy, or high turnover rates for fish that tend to die suddenly?
I imagine it's usually that there are too many species in one enclosure to have signs for.
What about Doué's Okapi and South American aviaries? Approx. 30 taxa exhibited in both.
20 and 30 species respectively.
The coral reef aquarium in Burgers' has 60 fish species >100 coral species and a large number of other invertebrates (including over 50 foraminifer taxa)....
imaginarius
Well-Known Member
This. A 200,000 gallon coral reef exhibit can hold hundreds, if not thousands, of species. Real-life coral reefs are incredibly crowded and incredibly species-diverse. A great exhibit will seek to imitate that richness. They literally wouldn’t have room to post complete signage of all species in the habitat. Even aquarists working there don’t always know every single fish in one tank at a given time.