Aquarium of the Bay Aquarium of the Bay Species List (As of 09/17/2022)

[Zoo Birding]

Hello ZooChat:

On Saturday, September 17th, I visited the Aquarium of the Bay for the first time in YEARS. Given how small an institution it is, I figured this would be another good place to start with a complete species roster.

PLEASE NOTE: I only have a passing interest in marine life, so forgive my ignorance and the amount of "unknown" species on this list. If anyone here is either a marine biologist and / or ichthyologist, and have visited the institution recently and know what some of these "unknown species" are, please do leave a comment down below to identify said species.

With that out of the way, for those who haven't visited the aquarium, it is divided into two levels - the Entrance Level and the Lower Level. I will go in order of how the aquarium set up its walking path. I will only list the species in each BOLD section in their entirety for consistency and so this post doesn't go on forever. I will place a [!!] for species that weren't listed but seen. I'll put a [...] and with quotation marks for animals that are given a generic name, but I'll put in parentheses my cursory (and I do mean cursory, as in using Google Lens of the pictures I took to find out the species) guess, and anything in red means the species was not seen.



ENTRANCE LEVEL - Discover the Bay

[!!] Bat star (Patiria miniata)
[✓] Black tegula snail (Tegula funebralis)
[!!] Black and yellow rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas)
[!!] Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis ssp.)
[✓] Bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)
[✓] Blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus)
[✓] Blue-banded {Catalina} goby (Lythrypnus dalli)
[!!] Cinnamon {Red and black} clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus)
[✓] Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus)
[✓] Club-tipped anemone (Corynactis californica)
[✓] Common clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)
[✓] English sole (Parophrys vetulus)
[!!] Foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus)
[!!] Green {"Blue-green"} chromis (Chromis viridis)
[✓] Frogspawn coral (Euphyllia divisa)
[✓] Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus)
[!!] Malu anemone (Heteractis malu)
[✓] Monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus)
[!!] Orange-fin anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus)
[✓] Pacific {California} sardine (Sardinops sagax caerulea)
[!!] Pyramid butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis)
[✓] Rainbow surfperch (Hypsurus caryi)
[✓] Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens)
[✓] Royal blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
[✓] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata)
[!!] Striped surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis)
[✓] Swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum)
[✓] Yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
[...] "Hermit crab" [Armed hermit crab? (Pagurus armatus)?]
[...] "Moray eel" [California moray? (Gymnothorax mordax)]
[...] "Sand dollar" [Pacific or western sand dollar? (Dendraster excentricus)]
[...] "Sea hare" [California sea hare? (Aplysia californica)]
[...] "Spiny lobster" [California spiny lobster? (Panulirus interruptus)]
[...] Unidentified sea star (class Asteroidea)
[...] Unidentified tube-dwelling anemone (subfamily Ceriantharians)
[...] Unidentified Montipora coral (genus Montipora)
[...] Unnamed long-spined sea urchin (Diadema setosum?)



LOWER LEVEL - Bay Pipefish Gallery

[✓] Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus)
[!!] White mullet (Mugil curema)



LOWER LEVEL - Sharks of Alcatraz

[✓] Bat ray (Myliobatis californica)
[✓] Broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus)
[✓] Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata)
[✓] Pacific {Blue} mackerel (Scomber australasicus)
[!!] Shovelnose guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus)
[✓] Soupfin {School} shark (Galeorhinus galeus)
[✓] Striped bass (Morone saxatilis)
[✓] White-plumed anemone (*) (Metridium farcimen; listed as Metridium giganteum)
[✓] White sea-bass (Atractoscion nobilis)
[✓] White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)
[✓] Yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi)



LOWER LEVEL - Octopus and Friends

[✓] Decorated warbonnet (Chirolophis decoratus)
[✓] East Pacific red octopus (Octopus rubescens)
[✓] Pacific spiny lumpsuckers (Eumicrotremus orbis)
[✓] Penpoint gunnel (Apodichthys flavidus)
[✓] Sailfin sculpin (Nautichthys oculofasciatus)
[!!] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata)
[✓] Spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros)



LOWER LEVEL - Nearshore Tunnel

[✓] Barred sand-bass (Paralabrax nebulifer)
[✓] Big skate (Beringraja binoculata)
[✓] Black rockfish (Sebastes melanops)
[✓] Black and yellow rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas)
[✓] Blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis)
[✓] Blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus)
[✓] Bocaccio rockfish (Sebastes paucispinis)
[✓] Brown rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus)
[✓] Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)
[✓] California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus)
[✓] California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher)
[✓] Club-tipped anemone (Corynactis californica)
[✓] Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus)
[✓] Flag rockfish (Sebastes rubrivinctus)
[✓] Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus)
[✓] Giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica)
[✓] Giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas)
[✓] Giant [spined] sea star (Pisaster giganteus)
[✓] Halfmoon (Medialuna californiensis)
[✓] Horn shark (Heterodontus francisci)
[✓] Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata)
[✓] Northern {Californian} anchovy (Engraulis mordax)
[✓] Ocean whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps)
[✓] Ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus)
[✓] Opaleye (Girella nigricans)
[✓] Pacific {California} sardine (Sardinops sagax caerulea)
[✓] Pile surfperch (Rhacochilus vacca)
[✓] Rainbow surfperch (Hypsurus caryi)
[✓] Rock wrasse (Halichoeres semicanctus)
[✓] Señorita wrasse (Oxyjulis californica)
[✓] Striped surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis)
[✓] Starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus)
[✓] Swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum)
[✓] Tiger rockfish (Sebastes nigrocinctus)
[✓] Vermillion rockfish {Red snapper} (Sebastes miniatus)
[✓] Walleye surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum)
[✓] Warty sea cucumber (Apostichopus parvimensis; listed as Parastichopus parvimensis)
[✓] Wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus)



LOWER LEVEL - Jellies: Go with the Flow

[✓] Common moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)
[✓] Egg-yolk jelly (Phacellophora camtschatica)
[✓] Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens)
[✓] Purple-striped jelly (Chrysaora colorata)
[..] Unidentified upside-down jellyfish (genus Cassiopea)

 

[Zoo Birding]

SPECIES LIST CONTINUED...


UPPER LEVEL - Bay Lab

[✓] California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi)
[✓] California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae; was listed as Lampropeltis getula californiae)
[✓] California newt (Taricha torosa)
[✓] California toad (Anaxyrus boreas halophilus)
[!!] Golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)
[✓] Indonesian (?) Blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua gigas ssp.)
[✓] Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla)
[✓] Red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius)
[✓] [Desert] rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata)
[✓] Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata)


Richardson Bay Touch Pool

[✓] Bat ray (Myliobatis californica)
[✓] Horn shark (Heterodontus francisci)
[✓] Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata)
[✓] Round stingray (Urobatis halleri)
[✓] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata)


California Tide Pool

[✓] Armed hermit crab (Pagurus armatus)
[✓] Bat star (Patiria miniata)
[✓] California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus)
[✓] Giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica)
[✓] Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata)
[✓] Ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus)
[✓] Starburst anemone (Anthopleura sola)



UPPER LEVEL - River Otters: Watershed Ambassadors

[✓] North American river otter (Lontra canadensis ssp.)



*** This concludes this species list. I tried to be as thorough as I can but I get the feeling I may have missed some unmarked species. Again, marine biology and ichthyology aren't in my wheel house so please comment down below if you've visited and spotted creatures that I have not mentioned or you were able to identify.

Hope this species list has been helpful.

 

[Zoo Birding]

P.S.: Here's a map of the floorplan of the institution for your input.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Thanks for posting these, I intend on going next year, so it is nice to have a list.

 

[Zoo Birding]

Thanks for posting these, I intend on going next year, so it is nice to have a list.

You're welcome.

Doing marine creatures is quite exhausting, and this is a small aquarium. Whenever I find my way back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, prepare yourself for a long post.

It's definitely an overlooked institution (also consider it's in bustling Pier 39).

 

[Zoo Birding]

[!!] Foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus)

Actually, I caught this mistake when reviewing my photos from my phone. It was a one-spotted (or blotched) fox face (Siganus unimaculatus).

Whoops