My review of the academy with the rest of my trip report can be seen here, where the text excerpts are pasted from.
California Academy of Sciences - July 5th, 2024
“I’m here to make a case for the Academy— at the very least as San Francisco’s premier zoological attraction. I’m sure most of ZooChat already views the Academy as a solid facility, but I’m here to tell you it’s worthy of the hype that Monterey or San Diego have as the must-sees of the West Coast.
Upon entering, my first stop was the upper level viewing of the Philippine reef tank. The display a mangrove lagoon with rays with a boarded walkway extended to a direct viewing into the reef below. Immediately, I found some nice lifers: Indian pompano and flapnose ray. I really did appreciate how they curated such a focused biotope exhibit— I’ll comment more on that later.”
Upper Level Mangroves:
Chocolate Chip Sea Star
Orbiculate Cardinalfish
Moorish Idol
Raccoon Butterflyfish
Copperband Butterflyfish
Saddleback Clownfish
Squaretail Mullet
Ornate Spiny Lobster
Bluespotted Stingray
Ribbontail Ray
Flapnose Ray
Honeycomb Stingray
Diamond Moonfish
Indian Pompano
Convict Tang
Copperband Butterflyfish
Longnose Butterflyfish
Oriental Sweetlips
Spotfin Flying Gurnard
“The strong start continued into the African Hall, which not only has some great diorama displays, but impressively boasts the original (or as close to the original) styles and detailings of the old African Hall in the Academy’s prior building. I did find, however, their penguin exhibit to be a bit underwhelming in size for such a great institution (similar to Monterey, really), but it’s placement in the hall was a nice touch. I mean, how often does one see African penguins mere feet away from a stuffed bushbuck?”
African Hall:
African Penguin
Pyjama Shark
Aulonocara baenschi
“I made my way to “Color of Life” next, consisting of vivid and interactive displays on the role of coloration in nature. To me, this exhibit really showcased the creativity in the Academy’s design. Specieswise, it was a real treat too— dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia bandesis), Riggenbach’s reed frogs (Hyperolius riggenbachi), and Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) were the highlights here. I enjoyed the Academy’s smaller-scaled exhibits such as this one, though I’ll admit I didn’t make the effort to see most of them in the interest of making it to the San Francisco Zoo later that day.”
Color of Life:
Dwarf Cuttlefish
Blue-Green Chromis
California Newt
Gouldian Finch
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Riggenbach’s Reed Frog
House Mouse
Green Tree Python
“Before I moved on to the next gallery, I dashed over to look at the lower-level viewing of the Swamp exhibit. Here lives Claude, a white alligator who’s garnered quite a following in my corner of the social media algorithm. With him are a myriad of sunfish and other freshwater fishes, and around the exhibit are various terrariums and another large tank with alligator gar and cichlids.”
Swamp:
White Alligator
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Black Crappie
Bluegill
Bluehead Chub
Golden Shiner
Green Sunfish
Greenfin Shiner
Redear Sunfish
Smallmouth Buffalo
Spotted Gar
Spotted Turtle
Southern Copperhead
Canebrake Rattlesnake
Yellow Ratsnake
Alligator Gar
Texas Cichlid
“Next up was the esteemed Osher Rainforest. I had read that the queue was long, and to line up first thing when visiting the Academy. Of course, I ignored such advice, and so I waited a good 30-40 minutes to enter the dome. The wait wasn’t dreadful, however, as the line wrapped around an open-topped view into the rocky coast aquarium.
It’s a massive exhibit. The sheer scale of it wasn’t obvious to me from the outside, but I realized quickly it was no joke as I made my way up from the forest floor to the canopy. On the round up to the second floor is a very creative exhibit concept: orb weavers (Nephiles clavipes) in open air. They were strung a few feet back from the railing, but close enough for me to get the heebie-jeebies just looking at those huge spiders. The Academy isn’t the only place to have such a display— San Diego’s invertebrate house has a similar exhibit. Each story featured a series of terrariums, filled with an intriguing collection of herps and more. There were some misses for me (Allison’s anole, some frogs) but also some worthy lifers (glass frogs, lovely poison dart frog).”
Osher Rainforest Dome:
Blue and Gold Macaw
Redtail Shark
Snakeskin Barb
Cherry Barb
Dwarf Loach
Panda Garra
Orange-Finned Danio
Ruby Barb
Panamanian Golden Frog
Blue Poison Dart Frog
Granular Glass Frog
Sungei Tawan Toad
Red-Tailed Green Ratsnak
African Giant Black Millipede
Sapho Longwing
Heliconius erato
Tiger Longwing
Isabella’s Longwing
Julia Heliconian
Postman
Harmonia Tiger
Magnificent Owl
Iphidamas Cattleheart
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Numata Longwing
Blue Clipper
Great Mormon
White Morpho
Green-Banded Peacock
Pink Rose
Tailed Jay
Pacific Giant Centipede
Turquoise Dwarf Gecko
Derby Flower Beetle
Giant Flower Beetle
Sun Beetle
Allison’s Anole
Kaup’s Caecilian
Endler’s Livebearer
Strawberry Poison Frog
Lovely Poison Frog
Green and Black Poison Frog
Southeastern Girdled Lizard
Golden Orb Weaver
Henkel’s Leaf-Tailed Gecko
Madagascar Day Gecko
Sambava Tomato Frog
Common Flat-Tail Gecko
Spiny Turtle
Rentap’s Asian Tree Toad
Leafcutter Ant
Dead Leaf Mantis
Vampire Crab
“As I moved into the upper levels of the dome, I began to encounter what I consider the highlight of the exhibit: birds! And butterflies, too. There were the more obvious individuals, red-crested turacos and beautiful fruit doves, but most of the smaller birds were hidden out of view among the trees. My only luck was in a particular corner by a food dish, where I spotted glimpses of a silver-beaked tanager and blue dacnis (new species for me). I would’ve loved to stay longer and search for birds, but the top level was the most congested. Thus, I quickly moved past the butterfly nursery and made my way into the elevator, which led me down into the Academy’s largest exhibit…”
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Blue-Winged Leafbird
Blue Dacnis
Bay-Headed Tanager
Burnished-Buff Tanager
Paradise Tanager
Silver-Beaked Tanager
Red-Crested Turaco
Jungle Nymph
Atlas Beetle
Paradise Tree Snake
Steinhart Aquarium:
“The famed Steinhart Aquarium! A quick scroll through the interwebs will show you Steinhart is a significant portion of not just the Academy’s history, but aquarium history as well. Steinhart opened in 1923, and has spent the last century pioneering aquatic zookeeping. Some of their achievements include the first roundabout tank designed for pelagic species, the first great white shark to be displayed/released in captivity, and more recently the first aquarium to patent a portable decompression chamber designed for collecting live fish from the depths of the twilight zone.
Steinhart is big. It’s no gargantuan like Monterey or Georgia, but it’s many times the size of your average SEALIFE and could easily be marketed as its own attraction. I personally underestimated its scale, so I was continually impressed throughout my visit.
From the Osher Rainforest, you descend into Steinhart’s first gallery: the Amazon Flooded Forest. I found this portion quite nice, your typical Amazonian displays with electric eels, tetras, cichlids, etc. At its center was a large tank which can be viewed from above the surface in the Osher Rainforest or from below through a tunnel. The tunnel was stocked with the typical river monsters (arapaima, redtail catfish, etc.) and some intriguing smaller inhabitants, including a special lifer for me: the true parrot cichlid (Hoplarchus psittacus). I’ve only ever seen the hybrid blood parrots before, so this was a real treat.”
Amazon Flooded Forest-
Amazon Milk Frog
Glowlight Tetra
Green Basilisk
Matamata
Northern Caiman Lizard
Redflank Bloodfin Tetra
Royal Pleco
Scalare Angelfish
Sterbai Cory
Largescale Foureyes
Ember Tetra
Electric Eel
Aquatic Caecilian
Surinam Toad
Banded Leporinus
Silver Prochilodus
Brycon
Arapaima
Tarpon
Tambaqui
Arrau River Turtle
Redtail Catfish
Armored Catfish
Silver Arowana
Chocolate Cichlid
Pinktail Chalceus
Redmouth Headstander
Silver Dollar
True Parrot Cichlid
Turquoise Severum
Triportheus rotundatus
Slender Hemiodus
Ocellate River Stingray
Blue Check Dwarf Cichlid
Pearl Cichlid
Silver Tetra
Triangle Cichlid
Bleeding Heart Tetra
Emperor Tetra
Platinum Hatchetfish
Amazon Pufferfish
Cardinal Tetra
Dwarf Pencilfish
Firehead Tetra
Red Discus
Zebra Plec
Zebra Otocinclus
Emperor Tetra
“Moving on from the flooded forest is the California Coast. The collections and displays are what you would expect from such an exhibit, very Monterey-esque lineups. The main tank, all 100,000 gallons of it, spans the length of the gallery, dotted with round windows to peer through before approaching the main viewing window. Here, you’re immersed into a scene from the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Through the glass, you can watch a rocky scape teeming with rockfish, seaperch, and my personal favorite in the tank: Chinook Salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha). Up above, as I mentioned earlier, you can watch as the water gently laps into a salt marsh or frothily rushes against the rocky walls of the aquarium.”
California Coast-
Bat Star
Blue Rockfish
Bocaccio
Canary Rockfish
China Rockfish
Chinook Salmon
Club-Tipped Anemone
Fish-Eating Anemone
Giant Green Anemone
Giant Plumose Anemone
Kelp Greenling
Ocean Whitefish
Olive Rockfish
Purple Sea Urchin
Rainbow Surfperch
Red Irish Lord
Striped Seaperch
Vermilion Rockfish
Walleye Surfperch
White-Spotted Rose Anemone
Wolf Eel
Yellowtail Rockfish
Copper Rockfish
Flag Rockfish
Giant Pacific Octopus
Metridium Anemone
Aggregating Anemone
Dwarf Perch
Kelp Crab
Swell Shark
California Moray Eel
California Salema
California Scorpionfish
Garibaldi
Halfmoon
Kelp Bass
Tiger Rockfish
Tube Anemone
Speckled Sanddab
Bay Pipefish
California Sea Cucumber
Pennpoint Gunnel
Threespine Stickleback
Pacific Sand Dollar
Spiny Scallop
Tidepool Sculpin
Sea Nettle
California Spiny Lobster
Senorita
Shiner Surfperch
“Also worth mentioning in the California Coast is the Rocky Reef exhibit. I found a very “I-Spy” feel to the aquarium as I looked through bushes of anemones to find well-camouflaged painted greenlings. The feather-duster worms present were also a nice surprise, as I’d never seen one before.”
Blackeye Goby
California Sea Cucumber
Club-Tipped Anemone
Giant Plumose Anemone.
Giant Rock Scallop
Metridium Anemone
Northern Feather Duster Worm
Orange Cup Coral
Painted Greenling
Red Gorgonian
Vermilion Star
Strawberry Anemone
Coral Reefs of the World-
“The next gallery I entered, Coral Reefs of the World, started off rather unimpressive. Nothing too special here, a long wall with a series of small reef aquariums showcasing a range of corals, anemones, and small fishes. What came next, however, would not disappoint.”
Bluestripe Pygmy Goby
Green Star Polyp
Harlequin Shrimp
Pulse Coral
Redspot Cardinalfish
Zoanthids
Commensal Shrimp
Miniature Carpet Anemone
Pompom Crab
Bubble Coral
Gorgonian
Open Brain Coral
Shrimpfish
Yellow Tang
Bulb Tentacle Anemone
Wide-Band Anemonefish
Warty Frogfish
Leaf Scorpionfish
Axilspot Hogfish
Stocky Anthias
Tree Coral
Finger Leather Coral
Flexible Leather Coral
Flowerpot Coral
Green Mandarinfish
Trachyphyllia geoffroyi
Scribbled Pipefish
Short Dragonfish
Philippine Coral Reef-
“The Philippine Coral Reef, Steinhart’s largest tank at 212,000 gallons, is also one of the world’s largest living reef displays. One of the few exhibits at the Academy I knew about prior, I admired that not only is this a stunning aquarium, but (in their words) a living laboratory, where the Academy conduct research with the same technologies that they could in wild reefs across the world. I’d also like to elaborate on my earlier comment on my appreciation of the Academy’s biotope exhibits, committing themselves to recreate environments from such specific geographic locations such as the Philippine reefs or the Gulf of the Farallones. I recall reading some years back on the forum that some members would like to see an exhibit complex dedicated to wildlife from The Philippines such as warty pigs, Philippine eagles, and tarsiers. Well, Steinhart here has done a wonderful job of giving us an exhibit showcasing the various depths (literally) of a Philippine ecosystem.”
Axilspot Hogfish
Blacktail Damselfish
Blotched Foxface
Blue and Yellow Fusilier
Bluespine Unicornfish
Flame Angelfish.
Canary Wrasse
Sailfin Tang
Double Whiptail
Ocellaris Clownfish
Harlequin Sweetlips
Lyretail Anthias
Convict Tang
Tomini Bristletooth Tang
Bannerfish
Orange-Shouldered Tang
Oriental Sweetlips
Blue Tang
Squarespot Fairy Basslet
Striped Cleaner Wrasse
Bignose Unicornfish
Eyestripe Surgeonfish
Chocolate Surgeonfish
Purple Queen
Beaugregory
“My personal favorite at Steinhart was the Twilight Zone. If you regularly dive to the mesophotic zone looking for fish, this won’t be special. But ZooChatters, if you’re looking for something truly one-of-a-kind that can’t be seen elsewhere, this is your exhibit. This gallery is a living glimpse into the Academy’s contributions to our understanding of the ocean. I recommend you look through their website, because some of that work is truly fascinating. The species list in the Twilight Zone is insanely impressive, aside from just the Peppermint Angelfish that’s famously known as the only one on public display in the world. Other rarities such as the Neptune Grouper and Haraguchi’s Butterflyfish, in which the latter individual (through what I’ve heard) may be the only representative of its species in captivity anywhere! Some of their species are so unique to public display, in fact, that they may even be undescribed. While the exhibit featuring an undescribed species of chromis was boarded off, it was amazing to witness directly just how new some of the Academy’s research was. Though now, I suspect that the species has been since described as Chromis tingting, but I’m not positive about that.”
Twilight Zone-
Blackcap Basslet
Blue Hamlet
Boulder Brain Coral
French Angelfish
French Butterflyfish
Longsnout Butterflyfish
Queen Angelfish
Royal Gramma
Spanish Flag Grouper
Black Coral
Gorgonian
Possum Wrasse
Rose-Veiled Fairy Wrasse
Sea Whip
Spiral Wire Coral (Cirrhipathes spiralis)
Sunburst Anthias
Twospot Hogfish
Splitfin Flashlight Fish
Brownbanded Butterflyfish
Charlene’s Anthias
Gorgonian
Griffis Angelfish
Haraguchi’s Butterflyfish
Katayama’s Swallowtail
Marquesas Butterflyfish
Multicolor Angelfish
Ornate Angelfish
Shortsnout Chromis
Twospot Basslet.
Cleaner Shrimp
Neptune Grouper
Bandit Angelfish
Hawaiian Deep Anthias
Tinker’s Butterflyfish
Wire Coral
Blueberry Sea Fan
Fire Shrimp
Reef Lobster
Scarlet Feather Star
Chromis sp. nov.
Yellow Wire Coral
Green Star Polyp
Halcurias Anemone
Candy Basslet
French Butterflyfish
Pugnose Bass
Reef Butterflyfish
Yellow Tree Gorgonian
Bicolor Basslet
Coco Worm
Peppermint Angelfish
Hooded Wrasse
Pintail Fairy Wrasse
Possum Wrasse
Redsaddled Anthias
Rhizo Coral
Truncatoflabellum veroni
Yellowlined Anthias
“Venom and Water Planet were the remaining two portions of Steinhart. I rushed through the former, as it was extremely crowded and I didn’t want to linger too long. The latter was pretty cool, but I also hurried through, as it seemed very tame in comparison to the exhibits I’d just gone through. Water Planet is located in the middle of Steinhart, and you can sort of see all of galleries coincide here. Here was where I really noticed how much I liked the design of the aquarium. It’s very flowy, smooth, designed with lots of curves. Sure, this may not be unique to Steinhart, but it’s nice to see both elements of older, neoclassical architecture (e.g. African Hall) in homage to the old Academy building as well as the modern architecture of the current Academy, which only opened in 2008.”
Venom-
California Mountain Kingsnake
Southern Black Widow
South American Sea Nettle
European Medicinal Leech
Tentacled Snake
Button Polyp
Canary Fangblenny
Disco Fangblenny
Reticulate Boxfish
Pygmy Waspfish
Aggregating Anemone
Whitespot Assassin Bug
Rainbow Scorpionfish
Iberian Ribbed Newt
Hybrid Pygmy Angelfish
Arizona Bark Scorpion
Water Scorpion
Bubble Coral
Convict Tang
Dwarf Lionfish
Copperband Butterflyfish
Flame Hawkfish
Water Planet-
Celestial Pearl Danio
Bamboo Shrimp
Pea Puffer
Australian Lungfish
Australian Rainbowfish
Golden Redgoby
Club Tipped Anemone
Skeleton Shrimp
Spiny Brittle Star
Archerfish
Burmese Vine Snake
Rummynose Rasbora
Gorgonian
Philippine Coral
Possum Wrasse
Rainford’s Goby
Randall’s Shrimp Goby
Red-Spotted Pygmy Goby
Springeri Damselfish
Staghorn Coral
Stocky Anthias
Tailspot Blenny
Talbot’s Damselfish
Brownbanded Pipefish
Upsidedown Catfish
Finger Leather Coral
Leather Coral
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Dejong’s Basslet
Green Duncan Coral
Moon Jelly
California Sea Cucumber
Mosshead Warbonnet
Grunt Sculpin
Sailfin Sculpin
Bat Star
Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
Lettuce Sea Slug
Congo Puffer
Banded Butterflyfish
Glassy Sweeper
Jackknife
Ridged Slipper Lobster
Striped Burrfish
Twospot Cardinalfish
Shiner Surfperch
Red Rock Shrimp
Butterfly Splitfin
Dwarf Seahorse
Red Abalone
Blind Cavefish
Elephantnose Fish
Norman’s Lampeye
Mexican Beaded Lizard
Weedy Seadragon
Blue Gularis
Blue Neon Goby
Eastern Rainbowfish
Australian Lungfish
Endler’s Livebearer
Vietnamese Mossy Frog
Woma Python
Centralian Carpet Python
Luristan Newt
Underwater Nursery-
Chinook Salmon
Dwarf Perch
Topsmelt Silverside
English Sole
Northern Clingfish
California Academy of Sciences - July 5th, 2024
“I’m here to make a case for the Academy— at the very least as San Francisco’s premier zoological attraction. I’m sure most of ZooChat already views the Academy as a solid facility, but I’m here to tell you it’s worthy of the hype that Monterey or San Diego have as the must-sees of the West Coast.
Upon entering, my first stop was the upper level viewing of the Philippine reef tank. The display a mangrove lagoon with rays with a boarded walkway extended to a direct viewing into the reef below. Immediately, I found some nice lifers: Indian pompano and flapnose ray. I really did appreciate how they curated such a focused biotope exhibit— I’ll comment more on that later.”
Upper Level Mangroves:
Chocolate Chip Sea Star
Orbiculate Cardinalfish
Moorish Idol
Raccoon Butterflyfish
Copperband Butterflyfish
Saddleback Clownfish
Squaretail Mullet
Ornate Spiny Lobster
Bluespotted Stingray
Ribbontail Ray
Flapnose Ray
Honeycomb Stingray
Diamond Moonfish
Indian Pompano
Convict Tang
Copperband Butterflyfish
Longnose Butterflyfish
Oriental Sweetlips
Spotfin Flying Gurnard
“The strong start continued into the African Hall, which not only has some great diorama displays, but impressively boasts the original (or as close to the original) styles and detailings of the old African Hall in the Academy’s prior building. I did find, however, their penguin exhibit to be a bit underwhelming in size for such a great institution (similar to Monterey, really), but it’s placement in the hall was a nice touch. I mean, how often does one see African penguins mere feet away from a stuffed bushbuck?”
African Hall:
African Penguin
Pyjama Shark
Aulonocara baenschi
“I made my way to “Color of Life” next, consisting of vivid and interactive displays on the role of coloration in nature. To me, this exhibit really showcased the creativity in the Academy’s design. Specieswise, it was a real treat too— dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia bandesis), Riggenbach’s reed frogs (Hyperolius riggenbachi), and Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) were the highlights here. I enjoyed the Academy’s smaller-scaled exhibits such as this one, though I’ll admit I didn’t make the effort to see most of them in the interest of making it to the San Francisco Zoo later that day.”
Color of Life:
Dwarf Cuttlefish
Blue-Green Chromis
California Newt
Gouldian Finch
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Riggenbach’s Reed Frog
House Mouse
Green Tree Python
“Before I moved on to the next gallery, I dashed over to look at the lower-level viewing of the Swamp exhibit. Here lives Claude, a white alligator who’s garnered quite a following in my corner of the social media algorithm. With him are a myriad of sunfish and other freshwater fishes, and around the exhibit are various terrariums and another large tank with alligator gar and cichlids.”
Swamp:
White Alligator
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Black Crappie
Bluegill
Bluehead Chub
Golden Shiner
Green Sunfish
Greenfin Shiner
Redear Sunfish
Smallmouth Buffalo
Spotted Gar
Spotted Turtle
Southern Copperhead
Canebrake Rattlesnake
Yellow Ratsnake
Alligator Gar
Texas Cichlid
“Next up was the esteemed Osher Rainforest. I had read that the queue was long, and to line up first thing when visiting the Academy. Of course, I ignored such advice, and so I waited a good 30-40 minutes to enter the dome. The wait wasn’t dreadful, however, as the line wrapped around an open-topped view into the rocky coast aquarium.
It’s a massive exhibit. The sheer scale of it wasn’t obvious to me from the outside, but I realized quickly it was no joke as I made my way up from the forest floor to the canopy. On the round up to the second floor is a very creative exhibit concept: orb weavers (Nephiles clavipes) in open air. They were strung a few feet back from the railing, but close enough for me to get the heebie-jeebies just looking at those huge spiders. The Academy isn’t the only place to have such a display— San Diego’s invertebrate house has a similar exhibit. Each story featured a series of terrariums, filled with an intriguing collection of herps and more. There were some misses for me (Allison’s anole, some frogs) but also some worthy lifers (glass frogs, lovely poison dart frog).”
Osher Rainforest Dome:
Blue and Gold Macaw
Redtail Shark
Snakeskin Barb
Cherry Barb
Dwarf Loach
Panda Garra
Orange-Finned Danio
Ruby Barb
Panamanian Golden Frog
Blue Poison Dart Frog
Granular Glass Frog
Sungei Tawan Toad
Red-Tailed Green Ratsnak
African Giant Black Millipede
Sapho Longwing
Heliconius erato
Tiger Longwing
Isabella’s Longwing
Julia Heliconian
Postman
Harmonia Tiger
Magnificent Owl
Iphidamas Cattleheart
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Numata Longwing
Blue Clipper
Great Mormon
White Morpho
Green-Banded Peacock
Pink Rose
Tailed Jay
Pacific Giant Centipede
Turquoise Dwarf Gecko
Derby Flower Beetle
Giant Flower Beetle
Sun Beetle
Allison’s Anole
Kaup’s Caecilian
Endler’s Livebearer
Strawberry Poison Frog
Lovely Poison Frog
Green and Black Poison Frog
Southeastern Girdled Lizard
Golden Orb Weaver
Henkel’s Leaf-Tailed Gecko
Madagascar Day Gecko
Sambava Tomato Frog
Common Flat-Tail Gecko
Spiny Turtle
Rentap’s Asian Tree Toad
Leafcutter Ant
Dead Leaf Mantis
Vampire Crab
“As I moved into the upper levels of the dome, I began to encounter what I consider the highlight of the exhibit: birds! And butterflies, too. There were the more obvious individuals, red-crested turacos and beautiful fruit doves, but most of the smaller birds were hidden out of view among the trees. My only luck was in a particular corner by a food dish, where I spotted glimpses of a silver-beaked tanager and blue dacnis (new species for me). I would’ve loved to stay longer and search for birds, but the top level was the most congested. Thus, I quickly moved past the butterfly nursery and made my way into the elevator, which led me down into the Academy’s largest exhibit…”
Beautiful Fruit Dove
Blue-Winged Leafbird
Blue Dacnis
Bay-Headed Tanager
Burnished-Buff Tanager
Paradise Tanager
Silver-Beaked Tanager
Red-Crested Turaco
Jungle Nymph
Atlas Beetle
Paradise Tree Snake
Steinhart Aquarium:
“The famed Steinhart Aquarium! A quick scroll through the interwebs will show you Steinhart is a significant portion of not just the Academy’s history, but aquarium history as well. Steinhart opened in 1923, and has spent the last century pioneering aquatic zookeeping. Some of their achievements include the first roundabout tank designed for pelagic species, the first great white shark to be displayed/released in captivity, and more recently the first aquarium to patent a portable decompression chamber designed for collecting live fish from the depths of the twilight zone.
Steinhart is big. It’s no gargantuan like Monterey or Georgia, but it’s many times the size of your average SEALIFE and could easily be marketed as its own attraction. I personally underestimated its scale, so I was continually impressed throughout my visit.
From the Osher Rainforest, you descend into Steinhart’s first gallery: the Amazon Flooded Forest. I found this portion quite nice, your typical Amazonian displays with electric eels, tetras, cichlids, etc. At its center was a large tank which can be viewed from above the surface in the Osher Rainforest or from below through a tunnel. The tunnel was stocked with the typical river monsters (arapaima, redtail catfish, etc.) and some intriguing smaller inhabitants, including a special lifer for me: the true parrot cichlid (Hoplarchus psittacus). I’ve only ever seen the hybrid blood parrots before, so this was a real treat.”
Amazon Flooded Forest-
Amazon Milk Frog
Glowlight Tetra
Green Basilisk
Matamata
Northern Caiman Lizard
Redflank Bloodfin Tetra
Royal Pleco
Scalare Angelfish
Sterbai Cory
Largescale Foureyes
Ember Tetra
Electric Eel
Aquatic Caecilian
Surinam Toad
Banded Leporinus
Silver Prochilodus
Brycon
Arapaima
Tarpon
Tambaqui
Arrau River Turtle
Redtail Catfish
Armored Catfish
Silver Arowana
Chocolate Cichlid
Pinktail Chalceus
Redmouth Headstander
Silver Dollar
True Parrot Cichlid
Turquoise Severum
Triportheus rotundatus
Slender Hemiodus
Ocellate River Stingray
Blue Check Dwarf Cichlid
Pearl Cichlid
Silver Tetra
Triangle Cichlid
Bleeding Heart Tetra
Emperor Tetra
Platinum Hatchetfish
Amazon Pufferfish
Cardinal Tetra
Dwarf Pencilfish
Firehead Tetra
Red Discus
Zebra Plec
Zebra Otocinclus
Emperor Tetra
“Moving on from the flooded forest is the California Coast. The collections and displays are what you would expect from such an exhibit, very Monterey-esque lineups. The main tank, all 100,000 gallons of it, spans the length of the gallery, dotted with round windows to peer through before approaching the main viewing window. Here, you’re immersed into a scene from the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Through the glass, you can watch a rocky scape teeming with rockfish, seaperch, and my personal favorite in the tank: Chinook Salmon (Onchorhynchus tshawytscha). Up above, as I mentioned earlier, you can watch as the water gently laps into a salt marsh or frothily rushes against the rocky walls of the aquarium.”
California Coast-
Bat Star
Blue Rockfish
Bocaccio
Canary Rockfish
China Rockfish
Chinook Salmon
Club-Tipped Anemone
Fish-Eating Anemone
Giant Green Anemone
Giant Plumose Anemone
Kelp Greenling
Ocean Whitefish
Olive Rockfish
Purple Sea Urchin
Rainbow Surfperch
Red Irish Lord
Striped Seaperch
Vermilion Rockfish
Walleye Surfperch
White-Spotted Rose Anemone
Wolf Eel
Yellowtail Rockfish
Copper Rockfish
Flag Rockfish
Giant Pacific Octopus
Metridium Anemone
Aggregating Anemone
Dwarf Perch
Kelp Crab
Swell Shark
California Moray Eel
California Salema
California Scorpionfish
Garibaldi
Halfmoon
Kelp Bass
Tiger Rockfish
Tube Anemone
Speckled Sanddab
Bay Pipefish
California Sea Cucumber
Pennpoint Gunnel
Threespine Stickleback
Pacific Sand Dollar
Spiny Scallop
Tidepool Sculpin
Sea Nettle
California Spiny Lobster
Senorita
Shiner Surfperch
“Also worth mentioning in the California Coast is the Rocky Reef exhibit. I found a very “I-Spy” feel to the aquarium as I looked through bushes of anemones to find well-camouflaged painted greenlings. The feather-duster worms present were also a nice surprise, as I’d never seen one before.”
Blackeye Goby
California Sea Cucumber
Club-Tipped Anemone
Giant Plumose Anemone.
Giant Rock Scallop
Metridium Anemone
Northern Feather Duster Worm
Orange Cup Coral
Painted Greenling
Red Gorgonian
Vermilion Star
Strawberry Anemone
Coral Reefs of the World-
“The next gallery I entered, Coral Reefs of the World, started off rather unimpressive. Nothing too special here, a long wall with a series of small reef aquariums showcasing a range of corals, anemones, and small fishes. What came next, however, would not disappoint.”
Bluestripe Pygmy Goby
Green Star Polyp
Harlequin Shrimp
Pulse Coral
Redspot Cardinalfish
Zoanthids
Commensal Shrimp
Miniature Carpet Anemone
Pompom Crab
Bubble Coral
Gorgonian
Open Brain Coral
Shrimpfish
Yellow Tang
Bulb Tentacle Anemone
Wide-Band Anemonefish
Warty Frogfish
Leaf Scorpionfish
Axilspot Hogfish
Stocky Anthias
Tree Coral
Finger Leather Coral
Flexible Leather Coral
Flowerpot Coral
Green Mandarinfish
Trachyphyllia geoffroyi
Scribbled Pipefish
Short Dragonfish
Philippine Coral Reef-
“The Philippine Coral Reef, Steinhart’s largest tank at 212,000 gallons, is also one of the world’s largest living reef displays. One of the few exhibits at the Academy I knew about prior, I admired that not only is this a stunning aquarium, but (in their words) a living laboratory, where the Academy conduct research with the same technologies that they could in wild reefs across the world. I’d also like to elaborate on my earlier comment on my appreciation of the Academy’s biotope exhibits, committing themselves to recreate environments from such specific geographic locations such as the Philippine reefs or the Gulf of the Farallones. I recall reading some years back on the forum that some members would like to see an exhibit complex dedicated to wildlife from The Philippines such as warty pigs, Philippine eagles, and tarsiers. Well, Steinhart here has done a wonderful job of giving us an exhibit showcasing the various depths (literally) of a Philippine ecosystem.”
Axilspot Hogfish
Blacktail Damselfish
Blotched Foxface
Blue and Yellow Fusilier
Bluespine Unicornfish
Flame Angelfish.
Canary Wrasse
Sailfin Tang
Double Whiptail
Ocellaris Clownfish
Harlequin Sweetlips
Lyretail Anthias
Convict Tang
Tomini Bristletooth Tang
Bannerfish
Orange-Shouldered Tang
Oriental Sweetlips
Blue Tang
Squarespot Fairy Basslet
Striped Cleaner Wrasse
Bignose Unicornfish
Eyestripe Surgeonfish
Chocolate Surgeonfish
Purple Queen
Beaugregory
“My personal favorite at Steinhart was the Twilight Zone. If you regularly dive to the mesophotic zone looking for fish, this won’t be special. But ZooChatters, if you’re looking for something truly one-of-a-kind that can’t be seen elsewhere, this is your exhibit. This gallery is a living glimpse into the Academy’s contributions to our understanding of the ocean. I recommend you look through their website, because some of that work is truly fascinating. The species list in the Twilight Zone is insanely impressive, aside from just the Peppermint Angelfish that’s famously known as the only one on public display in the world. Other rarities such as the Neptune Grouper and Haraguchi’s Butterflyfish, in which the latter individual (through what I’ve heard) may be the only representative of its species in captivity anywhere! Some of their species are so unique to public display, in fact, that they may even be undescribed. While the exhibit featuring an undescribed species of chromis was boarded off, it was amazing to witness directly just how new some of the Academy’s research was. Though now, I suspect that the species has been since described as Chromis tingting, but I’m not positive about that.”
Twilight Zone-
Blackcap Basslet
Blue Hamlet
Boulder Brain Coral
French Angelfish
French Butterflyfish
Longsnout Butterflyfish
Queen Angelfish
Royal Gramma
Spanish Flag Grouper
Black Coral
Gorgonian
Possum Wrasse
Rose-Veiled Fairy Wrasse
Sea Whip
Spiral Wire Coral (Cirrhipathes spiralis)
Sunburst Anthias
Twospot Hogfish
Splitfin Flashlight Fish
Brownbanded Butterflyfish
Charlene’s Anthias
Gorgonian
Griffis Angelfish
Haraguchi’s Butterflyfish
Katayama’s Swallowtail
Marquesas Butterflyfish
Multicolor Angelfish
Ornate Angelfish
Shortsnout Chromis
Twospot Basslet.
Cleaner Shrimp
Neptune Grouper
Bandit Angelfish
Hawaiian Deep Anthias
Tinker’s Butterflyfish
Wire Coral
Blueberry Sea Fan
Fire Shrimp
Reef Lobster
Scarlet Feather Star
Chromis sp. nov.
Yellow Wire Coral
Green Star Polyp
Halcurias Anemone
Candy Basslet
French Butterflyfish
Pugnose Bass
Reef Butterflyfish
Yellow Tree Gorgonian
Bicolor Basslet
Coco Worm
Peppermint Angelfish
Hooded Wrasse
Pintail Fairy Wrasse
Possum Wrasse
Redsaddled Anthias
Rhizo Coral
Truncatoflabellum veroni
Yellowlined Anthias
“Venom and Water Planet were the remaining two portions of Steinhart. I rushed through the former, as it was extremely crowded and I didn’t want to linger too long. The latter was pretty cool, but I also hurried through, as it seemed very tame in comparison to the exhibits I’d just gone through. Water Planet is located in the middle of Steinhart, and you can sort of see all of galleries coincide here. Here was where I really noticed how much I liked the design of the aquarium. It’s very flowy, smooth, designed with lots of curves. Sure, this may not be unique to Steinhart, but it’s nice to see both elements of older, neoclassical architecture (e.g. African Hall) in homage to the old Academy building as well as the modern architecture of the current Academy, which only opened in 2008.”
Venom-
California Mountain Kingsnake
Southern Black Widow
South American Sea Nettle
European Medicinal Leech
Tentacled Snake
Button Polyp
Canary Fangblenny
Disco Fangblenny
Reticulate Boxfish
Pygmy Waspfish
Aggregating Anemone
Whitespot Assassin Bug
Rainbow Scorpionfish
Iberian Ribbed Newt
Hybrid Pygmy Angelfish
Arizona Bark Scorpion
Water Scorpion
Bubble Coral
Convict Tang
Dwarf Lionfish
Copperband Butterflyfish
Flame Hawkfish
Water Planet-
Celestial Pearl Danio
Bamboo Shrimp
Pea Puffer
Australian Lungfish
Australian Rainbowfish
Golden Redgoby
Club Tipped Anemone
Skeleton Shrimp
Spiny Brittle Star
Archerfish
Burmese Vine Snake
Rummynose Rasbora
Gorgonian
Philippine Coral
Possum Wrasse
Rainford’s Goby
Randall’s Shrimp Goby
Red-Spotted Pygmy Goby
Springeri Damselfish
Staghorn Coral
Stocky Anthias
Tailspot Blenny
Talbot’s Damselfish
Brownbanded Pipefish
Upsidedown Catfish
Finger Leather Coral
Leather Coral
Peacock Mantis Shrimp
Dejong’s Basslet
Green Duncan Coral
Moon Jelly
California Sea Cucumber
Mosshead Warbonnet
Grunt Sculpin
Sailfin Sculpin
Bat Star
Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
Lettuce Sea Slug
Congo Puffer
Banded Butterflyfish
Glassy Sweeper
Jackknife
Ridged Slipper Lobster
Striped Burrfish
Twospot Cardinalfish
Shiner Surfperch
Red Rock Shrimp
Butterfly Splitfin
Dwarf Seahorse
Red Abalone
Blind Cavefish
Elephantnose Fish
Norman’s Lampeye
Mexican Beaded Lizard
Weedy Seadragon
Blue Gularis
Blue Neon Goby
Eastern Rainbowfish
Australian Lungfish
Endler’s Livebearer
Vietnamese Mossy Frog
Woma Python
Centralian Carpet Python
Luristan Newt
Underwater Nursery-
Chinook Salmon
Dwarf Perch
Topsmelt Silverside
English Sole
Northern Clingfish
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