Antarctic Fishes & Invertebrates in Captivity

DaLilFishie

DaLilFishie

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Despite Antarctic penguins being relatively commonplace in zoos and aquaria around the world, other Antarctic fauna is rare in captivity. I am looking to assemble a list of Antarctic fishes and invertebrates that have been put on live public display, past and present. If anyone is aware of holdings of such species, please let me know!

Nototheniidae - Cod-icefishes
Marbled Rockcod Notothenia rossii - formerly held (Sydney Aquarium, Tokyo Sea Life Park [may be behind the scenes])

Black Rockcod Notothenia coriiceps - formerly held (Tokyo Sea Life Park, Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium)

Bald Notothen Pagothenia borchgrevinki - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park), unknown if currently on display (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium), formerly held (Wilhelmshaven Aquarium, Sjöfartsmuseet Akvariet)

Emerald Rockcod Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus bernacchi - unknown if currently on display (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium), formerly held (Wilhelmshaven Aquarium, Genova Aquarium)

Sharp-spined Notothenia Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus pennellii - formerly held (Genova Aquarium)

Dusky Rockcod Tremaomus newnesi - formerly held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Humped Rockcod Gobionotothen gibberifrons - formerly held (Wilhelmshaven Aquarium)

Grey Rockcod Lepidonotothen squamifrons/kempi - currently held (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium), formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Yellowfin Notie Lindbergichthys nudifrons - formerly held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Painted Notie Nototheniops larseni - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Yellowfin Notothen Patagonotothen guntheri - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Bathydraconidae - Antarctic Dragonfishes
Mawson's Dragonfish Cygnodraco mawsoni - unknown if currently on display (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium)

Ploughfish Gymnodraco acuticeps - formerly held (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium)

Charcot's Dragonfish Parachaenichthys charcoti - formerly held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Antarctic Dragonfish Prionodraco evansii - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Harpagiferidae - Plunderfishes
Antarctic Spiny Plunderfish Harpagifer antarcticus - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Longbeard Plunderfish Pogonophryne mentella - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Oriana's Plunderfish Artedidraco orianae - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium)

Sailfin Plunderfish Histiodraco velifer - unknown if currently held (Genova Aquarium)

Channichthyidae - Crocodile Icefishes
No common name Chionodraco hamatus - formerly held (Wilmshaven Aquarium, Genova Aquarium)

Ocellated Icefish Chionodraco rastrospinosus - formerly held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Invertebrates
Antarctic Krill Euphasia superba - currently held (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium)

Antarctic Ribbon Worm Parborlasia corrugata - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park), formerly held (Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium)

Validus Sea Star Odontaster validus - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Sea star (no common name) Granaster nutrix - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Antarctic Whelk Neobuccinium eatoni - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Snail (no common name) Margarella antarctica - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)

Antarctic Limpet Nacella concinnia - currently held (Tokyo Sea Life Park)


I believe the International Antarctic Centre used to have a small aquarium of Antarctic fishes and invertebrates but I cannot find any information as to what species were kept...
 
In 2010 New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries issued an Import Health Standard for Antarctic fish species, covering 10 different species. Import Health Standards (IHSs) set out the biosecurity standards that need to be met for animal species to be imported into New Zealand. This particular IHS was probably requested by some zoo or scientific institution to import fish, but I don't know which institutions made use of it or if any places still hold Antarctic fish. At a guess, the International Antarctic Centre and Kelly Tarltons' Aquarium are most likely to have held Antarctic fish at some point, since they're both partly or entirely themed around Antarctica. It's also possible a university may have imported fish for research purposes.

NZ Government
 
DaLilFishie said:
Despite Antarctic penguins being relatively commonplace in zoos and aquaria around the world, other Antarctic fauna is rare in captivity. I am looking to assemble a list of Antarctic fishes and invertebrates that have been put on live public display, past and present. If anyone is aware of holdings of such species, please let me know!
Nototheniidae - Cod-icefishes
Marbled Rockcod Notothenia rossii - formerly held (Sydney Aquarium, Tokyo Sea Life Park [may be behind the scenes])
...
...
Click to expand...

AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) used to (or might still do) keep marbled rockcod and another species with them in same tank, but can't remember what the other species was except was also very cold-water species.
 
steveroberts said:
AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) used to (or might still do) keep marbled rockcod and another species with them in same tank, but can't remember what the other species was except was also very cold-water species.
Click to expand...
Definitely not kept anymore. Very interesting, I would not have expected AQWA to have exhibited Antarctics!
 
birdsandbats said:
There is a public aquarium at McMurdo Station in Antarctica that I'm sure has and does hold a number of local species.
Click to expand...
Ooh, thanks for telling me about this! Unfortunately not the most accessible location for the average aquarium-goer though :p

I found some videos on Youtube of the facility (called the Crary Lab Aquarium) that show a couple species kept there:


Shown are:
a sea spider, Nymphon sp.
a nudibranch, Tritoniella belli
Emerald Rockcod Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus bernacchi (referred to as "bernies" in the video)
Bald Notothen Pagothenia borchgrevinki (referred to as "borks" in the video)
Striped Rockcod Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus hansoni (referred to as "hansoni" in the video)



(the aquarium's touch tank is shown right at the end)

Shown in this one are:
Anemone species
Urchin species
Validus Sea Star Odontaster validus
Sea star species
Antarctic Giant Isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus

Unfortunately, the inhabitants of most tanks are not shown in either video, so who knows what else is kept...
 
DaLilFishie said:
Definitely not kept anymore. Very interesting, I would not have expected AQWA to have exhibited Antarctics!
Click to expand...

This was over 20 ago that saw them there a few times (2000-2004 era). Was a metal handlebar next to their tank could touch and feel the freeze of how cold the water was. t Maybe the Southern Ocean connection to Western Australia was the reason they decided to keep them. Remember the (marbled) rockcods but just can't remember what the other fish was, except that they were smaller.
 
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DaLilFishie said:
Ooh, thanks for telling me about this! Unfortunately not the most accessible location for the average aquarium-goer though :p

I found some videos on Youtube of the facility (called the Crary Lab Aquarium) that show a couple species kept there:


Shown are:
a sea spider, Nymphon sp.
a nudibranch, Tritoniella belli
Emerald Rockcod Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus bernacchi (referred to as "bernies" in the video)
Bald Notothen Pagothenia borchgrevinki (referred to as "borks" in the video)
Striped Rockcod Trematomus/Pseudotrematomus hansoni (referred to as "hansoni" in the video)



(the aquarium's touch tank is shown right at the end)

Shown in this one are:
Anemone species
Urchin species
Validus Sea Star Odontaster validus
Sea star species
Antarctic Giant Isopod Glyptonotus antarcticus

Unfortunately, the inhabitants of most tanks are not shown in either video, so who knows what else is kept...
Click to expand...
In one video a quite large Antarctic tooth fish (Dissostichus mawsoni) I believe, was kept in a circular tank, though I am not sure if it was a permanent resident.
 
DaLilFishie said:
I believe the International Antarctic Centre used to have a small aquarium of Antarctic fishes and invertebrates but I cannot find any information as to what species were kept...
Click to expand...
I found some links to images taken in the aquarium on flickr that I posted in a different thread some years ago.

Antarctic Centre Christchurch
Antarctic Centre - sea spider

The fish appear to be Bald Notothen Pagothenia borchgrevinki and a Trematomus species. I don't know which species the sea spider is.
 
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