Monterey Bay Aquarium Major deep sea animal exhibit coming to MBA

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Things inside the stream:

• They tried to not give too many spoilers.

• Light levels and pressure information.

• Smallest animal on exhibit is the balloon worm and largest is giant spider crab (one reached to top of 6.5 foot tank when not fully stretched.)
• Will have more streams in future.

• Many animals only have scientific name.
• They had to get creative by blending different food to make marine snow.
• Bone worm fishing using robots. Hagfish info.
• Said people who were sleuthing heard not all animals mentioned would be on display for duration of exhibit (5;6;7 years) they will be rotating animals and said you will probably see new species (for the exhibit) every few months they recommended becoming a member and going on social media to see alerts.
• Over time will be able to see ___ fish get older and a mystery jellyfish. (Not specified)
• Extra time in pandemic did not help production as it stopped access to deep sea on vessels and air planes to transport species from other countries.
• Donations helped aquarium.
• Will be deep sea corals and deep sea coral communities
• Giant isopod will be on display but they said they wont "tell exactly what is going on."
• Spider crabs caught in tsuruga bay from fishery likely to cause impact to environment.
• Will talk in future about more impacts on deep sea environment.
• Pictures of basket star and mention that Gersemia juliepackardae coral is in the aquarium.
• Shown pictures of jellies including Moodeira rotunda and one other I could not identify saying they worked with them years ago and probably wont have them on exhibit.
• Paul enjoyed passion of team.
• Paul Clarkson mentioned some species he wants one day.
• Mentioned sea urchin with scientific name I cant spell which is like a pyramind but is hard to find and did not adjust to surface.
• Northwest_fish_keeping was mentioned sleauthing discord.
• Possible new color of bioluminesence caught on camera today and balloon worm will be revealed in a later stream.
• Talked about jobs in the aquarium.

New species that will probably be on display mentioned. Balloon worms, Gersemia juliepackardee, one unspecified fish who is growing, one unspecified jelly.

I was going to see if someone noticed! That shoutout was so cool. It's been mainly me and "VampyrSquid" on the discord that have been the "Sherlock Holmes" as Patrick said and it's been super fun.
other things to mention are:
-There are other animals that are going to be quite large, specifically Paul said that "some come on big planes" so it sounds like there will be other big animals (2 species some people in the discord have come up with include the Kitefin Shark and Blacksail Snake Mackerel since they both get around 6 ft)
-The Giant Isopod display has been hinted at (im not sure if Paul knows but it says on the Into the Deep Photo Gallery if you search that up) that they'll be in a touch tank! There's also build plans from the NY Times article that show it which I can send
-The __ fish is most likely the Salmon Snailfish babies he mentioned in \the Seattle Aquarium stream, unless they've bred another species so far which is insane
-Mooderia Rotunda I believe is highly likely to be on exhibit since they did show them a little over a year ago at the Aquarium in the jelly lab but that's just hopeful thinking
-I think Paul slipped this out intentionally and there's been loads of hints lately, but Sea Pigs seem like they'll be on display

Other staff in the MBA discord, specifically aquaken, have said there are still species that don't even have scientific names that will be on display. And Paul said that in house right now, their are some gelatinous creatures that don't have common names. The Aquarium has had to give a majority of the animals that'll be on display common names due to how under-studied they are.

Looking at the stream background, animals that were either stationary or moving through were -Lump Fish
-Sea Angel
-Anglerfish (Black Sea Devil Maybe?

)
-Giant Spider Crab
-Giant Isopod
-Chimera
-Sea Pigs
-Hydrothermal Vent with Riftia Worms
-Barrel Eye
-Thresher Shark

Lump Fish, Sea Angels, Giant Ispods, Giant Spider Crabs are going to be there for April I'm pretty sure (source: MBA Email and new articles) Lots of Hints towards Sea Pigs recently, and it kind of sounded like Paul let it slip intentionally on stream so, im hoping lol. Chimera were in the old deep sea exhibit, kind of common in West Coast Aquariums. Anglerfish are mentioned to be on Display at some point, species unknown, although maybe they're hinting at this guy

Thresher Shark could be a hint that they're going to display a smaller shark of some kind. Barrel Eye, probably not now but who knows in the future. Hydrothermal Vent communities are confirmed, so it's looking like they might have Riftia is what they're hinting at?

either way, less than 1 month till the exhibit opens! Tickets are booked, Hotel is booked, all my Camera equipment is here, just the only thing stopping me is time

 

[splendens]

Never noticed the mention of more large animals! I personally think the art is just general depiction of deep sea creatures as they mention there probably wont be barreleye. (they said its to hard to find and a few other reasons)

 

[splendens]

I was going to see if someone noticed! That shoutout was so cool. It's been mainly me and "VampyrSquid" on the discord that have been the "Sherlock Holmes" as Patrick said and it's been super fun.
other things to mention are:
-There are other animals that are going to be quite large, specifically Paul said that "some come on big planes" so it sounds like there will be other big animals (2 species some people in the discord have come up with include the Kitefin Shark and Blacksail Snake Mackerel since they both get around 6 ft)
-The Giant Isopod display has been hinted at (im not sure if Paul knows but it says on the Into the Deep Photo Gallery if you search that up) that they'll be in a touch tank! There's also build plans from the NY Times article that show it which I can send
-The __ fish is most likely the Salmon Snailfish babies he mentioned in \the Seattle Aquarium stream, unless they've bred another species so far which is insane
-Mooderia Rotunda I believe is highly likely to be on exhibit since they did show them a little over a year ago at the Aquarium in the jelly lab but that's just hopeful thinking
-I think Paul slipped this out intentionally and there's been loads of hints lately, but Sea Pigs seem like they'll be on display

Other staff in the MBA discord, specifically aquaken, have said there are still species that don't even have scientific names that will be on display. And Paul said that in house right now, their are some gelatinous creatures that don't have common names. The Aquarium has had to give a majority of the animals that'll be on display common names due to how under-studied they are.

Looking at the stream background, animals that were either stationary or moving through were -Lump Fish
-Sea Angel
-Anglerfish (Black Sea Devil Maybe?

)
-Giant Spider Crab
-Giant Isopod
-Chimera
-Sea Pigs
-Hydrothermal Vent with Riftia Worms
-Barrel Eye
-Thresher Shark

Lump Fish, Sea Angels, Giant Ispods, Giant Spider Crabs are going to be there for April I'm pretty sure (source: MBA Email and new articles) Lots of Hints towards Sea Pigs recently, and it kind of sounded like Paul let it slip intentionally on stream so, im hoping lol. Chimera were in the old deep sea exhibit, kind of common in West Coast Aquariums. Anglerfish are mentioned to be on Display at some point, species unknown, although maybe they're hinting at this guy

Thresher Shark could be a hint that they're going to display a smaller shark of some kind. Barrel Eye, probably not now but who knows in the future. Hydrothermal Vent communities are confirmed, so it's looking like they might have Riftia is what they're hinting at?

either way, less than 1 month till the exhibit opens! Tickets are booked, Hotel is booked, all my Camera equipment is here, just the only thing stopping me is time

Also riftia have been kept at university of Santa Barbara using 80 degree water, hydrogen sukohide and pressurized containers. They survived for at least a month and were growing.

DEEP SEA TUBE WORMS SURVIVE IN CAPTIVITY


Also these have been kept: hydrothermal vent barnacles (Ashinkailepas seepiophilia and Neoverruca sp.), and tonguefish (Symphurus sp.), hydrothermal vent crabs (Austinograea yunohana) hydrothermal vent galatheid crabs (Shinkaia crosnieri), vestimentiferan tubeworms (Lamellibrachia satsuma), hydrothermal vent shrimp (Opaepele spp.), at enoshima aquarium
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1439-0485.2006.00115.x

The article also mentions other kept species such as predatory tunicates and deep sea giant clams Calyptogena soyoae and C. solidissima at other places.

 

[DaLilFishie]

• Over time will be able to see ___ fish get older

• one unspecified fish who is growing

• I would hazard a guess this is referring to the baby Salmon Snailfish that were spawned at MBA. They originally planned to only have a single Salmon Snailfish on display, sent from Japan, but the one that they received was gravid and laid fertile eggs, which hatched and seem to be doing well. In the absence of a male, I wonder if this means they can either store sperm like some other fish, or is this is possibly parthenogenesis (which would definitely be a useful adaptation for a slow-moving fish in an environment in which the chance of running into a male is low)?
  
  I wonder how big the Salmon Snailfish tank will be? It'd have to be fairly large to house several fish that can potentially grow to half a metre in length!

 

[splendens]

Kitefin Shark and Blacksail Snake Mackerel since they both get around 6 ft)

I wonder how big the Salmon Snailfish tank will be? It'd have to be fairly large to house several fish that can potentially grow to half a metre in length!

I wonder if there will be any larger tanks besides the sea mount, vent and whale fall tank. It seems like the whale fall tank is the largest tank and out of the about 20 tanks many will be smaller tanks and kreisels. As far as I know the snoek if they are being brought in, have to be in a tank without any critters they can eat. Also perhaps there will only be a few snailfish on display with the rest behind the scenes or distributed.

 

[DaLilFishie]

perhaps there will only be a few snailfish on display with the rest behind the scenes or distributed.

Possibly! It would be fantastic if Salmon Snailfish were displayed at other aquariums, currently MBA is the only facility with them outside of Asia so it would be great to share them around and give more people the opportunity to see this wonderful species! I wonder if MBA will attempt to breed them again, purposely this time . If so, it could be the start of Salmon Snailfish becoming more common in aquariums which is something I'd love to see!

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

I wonder if there will be any larger tanks besides the sea mount, vent and whale fall tank. It seems like the whale fall tank is the largest tank and out of the about 20 tanks many will be smaller tanks and kreisels. As far as I know the snoek if they are being brought in, have to be in a tank without any critters they can eat. Also perhaps there will only be a few snailfish on display with the rest behind the scenes or distributed.

Speaking of the Vent Tanks, I'm going based off the plans from the NY Times article so idk if this is how they actually built it, but it looks like it might be 3 separate tanks in that little outcrop. Which in theory, might be more beneficial since some species could prey on each other, and it might be easier to heat the tanks separately, but for now I'd eliminate any huge Hydrothermal Vent creatures like the Fish species.

I'm also thinking maybe some of the Snailfish could go in the Whale Falls Tank since I think some species are known to prowl whalefalls looking for the the little micro crustaceans that like to eat the flesh of the Whale. Either way, not too much more waiting!

Also something extremely awesome if I can, I may be meeting (or at least saying hi and chatting for a bit) with Paul Clarkson when I go! He said he'd love to meet a few of us from the Discord that are going the to the Opening Date (I may be going the 8th, but for sure I'm going the 9th and 10th) so I'll see if I can ask him a few question

 

[splendens]

Looking at the portfolio again it says that the whale fall tank is the largest tank.

 

[splendens]

Was looking at facebook and saw this. says that the exhibit will replace viva baja. I do not thinks this will happen as the portfolio shows there is a window to the open ocean tank which there is only in the overfishing area. There is also a mention of more livestreams once it opens.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Was looking at facebook and saw this. View attachment 534978View attachment 534978 View attachment 534979says that the exhibit will replace viva baja. I do not thinks this will happen as the portfolio shows there is a window to the open ocean tank which there is only in the overfishing area. There is also a mention of more livestreams once it opens.

I think what happened was the initial entrance starts at the bottom viewing for the Open Sea Tank, and then leads into the old space Vivja Baja was once in. Viva Baja has already been torn down for a few years and in an old members magazine they confirmed that this exhibit would be taking that space.
Also yup, Pat from the SM team did confirm there will be livestream, even hinting towards an exhibit livestream (like the Open Sea, Kelp Forest, Sharks, etc) so im wondering if there will be a Whale Falls 24/7 Livestream since its the biggest tank in the exhibit.

Also something interesting, I figured out how to get rid of the red light in the photos in Lightroom, so it turns them black and white. Through this I was able to uncover 2 animals in the Lab photo from the livestream which some people in the Discord agree with me on that it looks heavily like those creatures.

1st one is in the middle Kreisel tank, it was too blurry to tell what it was but from the shape it looks like some sort of Jelly or maybe even a small Siphonophore

2nd which is super exciting, and confirms the hints they've been giving out, RIFTIA TUBE WORMS! If you look in the back of the top tank on the left, you can see white tubs standing up, some even having a dark red / black tip to them which is the worm, im not sure how big those tanks are but it looks like they collected smaller specimens and are growing them up at the Aquarium for one of the Hydrothermal Vent Tanks

 

[splendens]

New stream tommorow with team water quality.

 

[DaLilFishie]

It seems the Salmon Snailfish won't be the only snailfish species on display. From a conversation in the MBA discord server, it seems Arbiter Snailfish (Careproctus kamikawai) will also be on display.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Pretty sweet update, it's now been officially confirmed by Paul Clarkson that the Aquarium will have a pretty nice Giant Isopod Touch Tank in the new exhibit. The plans showed it could look like, and the Into the Deep Photo Gallery and some recent articles also hinted at this, but now it's officially confirmed

 

[splendens]

in case anyone is not in the discord quite alot of things have been revealed.

 

[splendens]

No sea pigs or hydrothermal vent species

Sable fish, porcupine crab, australian ghostshark, undescribed comb jelly know as the "x jelly" Many species of coral, eelpouts, red lantern jelly, nanomia bijuga, california king crab, japanese armorhead, spiny red starfish, and other species of corals, anemone and sea stars. (these are the newly confirmed animals)

Many interperative display including dioramas, games, video screens and art work with models on it.

Sign at entrance is a board with cut out words with a screen playing behind it.

Thank you to northwest fish keeping, vampyr squid and the marine mammal enjoyer on discord.

 

[DaLilFishie]

Not surprised that Sablefish, Porcupine Crab and Japanese Armourhead are on display. The Australian Ghostshark is an interesting addition.

Bit bummed about the hydrothermal vent critters and Sea Pigs. I guess they can't have everything

 

[Zooplantman]

Latest coverage of the exhibit
Monterey Bay Aquarium showcases rare deep-sea life in new $15 million exhibition

 

[ocellated_eelpout]

I have found some photos of the midwater exhibit, should i post them? Just don’t want to spoil it.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

I have found some photos of the midwater exhibit, should i post them? Just don’t want to spoil it.

Go ahead! If anyone wants to see the stream and a lot of the exhibit, go to the MBA Instagram and theres a livestream there with Pat

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

So here's a list I compiled of Animals we've gotten from the stream. THIS IS NOT THE ENTIRE LIST. Theres animals that have gone unlabeled, especially in the Sea Floor Tanks as they're still adding some stuff I think. Example: MBARI took a clip of the Muddy Bottom Tank and showed a squat Lobster in there but there's no mention of it anywhere. So it looks like there's going to be a lot of species to look out for.

Midwater:
Mauve Stingers
Bloody Belly Comb Jellies
Snow Globe Jellies
Sea Angels
Lobed Comb Jellies
Red Paper Lantern Jelly
Nanomia Bijuga Siphonophores
"Red X" Jellies

Seafloor:
Predatory Tunicates
Droopy Sea Pens
Pom Pom Anemones
Salmon Snailfish Babies
Japanese Porcupine Crabs
King Crabs from Cali and Puget Sound
Pacific Hagfish
Mushroom Soft Coral
Eel Pouts
Glowing Sea Cucumber
Julie Packard Coral
Psolus Sea Cucumbers
Apple Anemones
Dandelion Siphonophore (?)
Other creatures I can't ID

Sea Mounts:
Spiny Thornyhead
Bubblegum Coral
Mushroom Soft Coral
Bamboo Coral
Basket Stars
Crinoid Stars
Lumpfish
Deep-sea Cauliflower Coral
Red Sea Fans
Solenosmilia variabilis coral(?)
Sea Pen species of some sort (?)

Whale Falls:
Fragile Pink Sea Urchin
Japanese Spider Crabs
Elephant Sharks
Spotted Ratfish
Japanese Armor Head
Sablefish
Spiny Red Starfish
Longspine Thornyhead
Shortspine Thornyhead

End parts:
Giant Isopods
Bone Worms