Deep-Sea Exhibit for Oceanopolis

[Maguari]

Interesting news from an aquarium I'm long overdue a second visit to (they have Harp and Ringed Seals, for one):

BBC News - 'Abyss Box' to keep deep animals

The public are going to get the chance to see live creatures pulled up from the deep ocean in a permanent display.

Normally when organisms are raised from kilometres below the sea surface, they quickly die because of the huge change in pressure.

But scientists have now developed the Abyss Box, which can maintain animals in the extreme environment they need.

The vessel, containing deep-sea crab and shrimp, will go on show at the Oceanopolis aquarium in Brest, France.

The volume of the box is quite small (16 litres) but researchers believe the technology could eventually be scaled up to house larger animals, such as fish.

 

[condor]

AbyssBox Displays Deep-Sea Animals Under Pressure | Wired Science

Unfortunately I guess most ordinary aquarium visitors won't appreciate or realise how remarkable it is that they can see living crustaceans that originate from a depth of 1800 m/6000 ft. For people that are too lazy to open the article, the species in the aquarium are the shrimp Mirocaris fortunata and the crab Segonzacia mesatlantica. Both live near deep sea hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean. The aquarium is maintained at a pressure of 180 atmospheres, has a temperature of 10°C/50°F and a thin stream of water at 30°C/86°F to mimic a hydrothermal vent. A complex system allows water change and feeding without changing the pressure.

Though Japanese public aquariums keep deep sea crustaceans (at least the crabs Gandalfus yunohana, Austinograea alayseae and A. rodriguezensis, the shimps Alvinocaris longirostris and Opaepele loihi and the squat lobster Shinkaia crosnieri - pdf) in systems that mimic hydrothermal vents, I think Oceanopolis is the only with an aquarium kept under such extreme deep sea presssure.

 

[DavidBrown]

Unfortunately I guess most ordinary aquarium visitors won't appreciate or realise how remarkable it is that they can see living crustaceans that originate from a depth of 1800 m/6000 ft. For people that are too lazy to open the article, the species in the aquarium are the shrimp Mirocaris fortunata and the crab Segonzacia mesatlantica. Both live near deep sea hydrothermal vents in the Atlantic Ocean. The aquarium is maintained at a pressure of 180 atmospheres, has a temperature of 10°C/50°F and a thin stream of water at 30°C/86°F to mimic a hydrothermal vent. A complex system allows water change and feeding without changing the pressure.

This is extremely cool. I hope that display systems like this make it into aquariums in the U.S. I would love to see live hydrothermal vent species. As you note condor it would be helpful if they were accompanied by meaningful interpretive exhibits to show people how special they are, The California Science Center in Los Angeles has an exhibit on deep sea ecosystems that this display would fit in perfectly.