Monterey Bay Aquarium Major deep sea animal exhibit coming to MBA

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

(Shoutout to VampyrSquid for finding this)
Here's a list from the MBA site with all the scientific names. Although it's missing quite a lot of the species
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/newsroom/media-kits/into-the-deep-featured-species

 

[ocellated_eelpout]

 

[ocellated_eelpout]

 

[Coelacanth18]

@ocellated_eelpout Source for these photos?

 

[Chlidonias]

That tank looks tiny for those giant crabs.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

@ocellated_eelpout Source for these photos?

Monterey Bay Aquarium showcases rare deep-sea life in new $15 million exhibition

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

That tank looks tiny for those giant crabs.

They explained it's a bit taller and deeper than what it shows, some people who went early as a special invite or to the member preview today also said the same thing. There's also another part next to it that the tank connects to that opens up when the Crabs are molting.
The perspective makes it looks small since the viewing window is only 6ft tall, and some of them are around 10ft already so when they're stretching up, it looks pretty small but the tank is actually bigger than what you see from that angel

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

That tank looks tiny for those giant crabs.

Matt Wandell from the Aquarium just posted the dimensions, they get around 12ft from leg to leg so it's definitely adequate for their size, the perspective of that photo just makes it look small

 

[Chlidonias]

The perspective makes it looks small since the viewing window is only 6ft tall, and some of them are around 10ft already so when they're stretching up, it looks pretty small but the tank is actually bigger than what you see from that angel

Matt Wandell from the Aquarium just posted the dimensions, they get around 12ft from leg to leg so it's definitely adequate for their size, the perspective of that photo just makes it look smallView attachment 537446

Um... if they get to 12ft across their legspan, and some are already 10ft across, and the tank is only 20 ft by 11ft, how does that equate to the tank being "definitely adequate for their size"?

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Um... if they get to 12ft across their legspan, and some are already 10ft across, and the tank is only 20 ft by 11ft, how does that equate to the tank being "definitely adequate for their size"?

In my opinion, it's fine
1. Japanese Spider Crabs in captivity, like a lot of other animals mostly max out a little bit under their wild size. The largest it seems like they get in captivity is 10ft across, in the wild they can get 12ft across.
So if some are already almost at 10ft, the exhibit length is about twice their size.
2. They're not very active, they have spurts of energy but most of the time they only move a tad bit or just sit in one place
3. They only have 4 Male Giant Spider Crabs. Not sure if they plan on adding more but Less stocking density overall = more space for space for the Crabs since there's less of them. And the other animals in the exhibit which are Japanese Armorheads and Elephant Sharks are all midwater swimmers so they take up none of the ground space for the most part. The other animals are supposedly Fragile Pink Urchins and Red Spiny Stars.
4. The adults grow slowly since they come from deep and cold water
So overall those factors make it fine for them in my opinion. They have space to turn around, and scavenge the entire tank

 

[Great Argus]

Um... if they get to 12ft across their legspan, and some are already 10ft across, and the tank is only 20 ft by 11ft, how does that equate to the tank being "definitely adequate for their size"?

In my opinion, it's fine
1. Japanese Spider Crabs in captivity, like a lot of other animals mostly max out a little bit under their wild size. The largest it seems like they get in captivity is 10ft across, in the wild they can get 12ft across.
So if some are already almost at 10ft, the exhibit length is about twice their size.
2. They're not very active, they have spurts of energy but most of the time they only move a tad bit or just sit in one place
3. They only have 4 Male Giant Spider Crabs. Not sure if they plan on adding more but Less stocking density overall = more space for space for the Crabs since there's less of them. And the other animals in the exhibit which are Japanese Armorheads and Elephant Sharks are all midwater swimmers so they take up none of the ground space for the most part. The other animals are supposedly Fragile Pink Urchins and Red Spiny Stars.
4. The adults grow slowly since they come from deep and cold water
So overall those factors make it fine for them in my opinion. They have space to turn around, and scavenge the entire tank

Excerpt from the AZA care manual for JSC's:

"It is recommended that the aquarium exhibit have a minimum of 1,500 gallons (5,680 liters) or 1.2 square meters (12–14 square feet) per animal (e.g., a group size of six crabs can be housed in a 9,000 gallon (34,000 liter) aquarium exhibit). Inter-individual distances required by ex situ JSCs are not known with certainty. It is generally assumed that more space is better, and at a minimum, there should be enough room for each crab to stand normally, without touching another crab."

MBA's tank is 220 square feet, and using the higher recommended value stated for four JSC we get 56 square feet. However it seems in this case we're dealing with large crabs than average; regardless the room I'm currently in is about the same dimensions as the tank and it seems pretty large visualizing 4 large crabs in here. I guess we'll have to see once the exhibit opens.

Link to the full publicly available JSC ACM if anyone wants to peruse it.
https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/japanese_spider_crab_care_manual.pdf

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Member Previews started today! Shoutout to Milie and Blobfish Lova in the MBA discord for these pics since they went today

1&2 Bloody Belly Comb Jelly
3 Snow Globe Jelly
4 Red Paper Lantern Jelly
5 Japanese Porcupine Crab
6 Basket Star
7 Giant Isopod
8 Giant Spider Crabs

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Excerpt from the AZA care manual for JSC's:

"It is recommended that the aquarium exhibit have a minimum of 1,500 gallons (5,680 liters) or 1.2 square meters (12–14 square feet) per animal (e.g., a group size of six crabs can be housed in a 9,000 gallon (34,000 liter) aquarium exhibit). Inter-individual distances required by ex situ JSCs are not known with certainty. It is generally assumed that more space is better, and at a minimum, there should be enough room for each crab to stand normally, without touching another crab."

MBA's tank is 220 square feet, and using the higher recommended value stated for four JSC we get 56 square feet. However it seems in this case we're dealing with large crabs than average; regardless the room I'm currently in is about the same dimensions as the tank and it seems pretty large visualizing 4 large crabs in here. I guess we'll have to see once the exhibit opens.

Link to the full publicly available JSC ACM if anyone wants to peruse it.
https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/japanese_spider_crab_care_manual.pdf

Yes, and keep in mind only 1 of the 4 is currently 10ft. The next largest I believe is 6ft, and then the other 2 are around 4ft. So they definitely have a lot more room to grow, but it'll take quite a long time for them to reach that size, probably throughout most of the exhibits lifetime. The big one in the front of the last pic above I believe is the 10ft one

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Scratch that, that one is the 6ft one I believe. This guy is definitely the 10ft one in the back. But you can see it has space to move around, and thats not even the whole tank. This picture was from last week

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

So if you go on Instagram, search up #intothedeep and sort by recent, you can see posts by people who've been going to the member Previews and I found some interesting things.
-Confirmation of Orange Brisingid Sea Stars in Into the Deep, they were teased before but we never got any video or photos of them
-SEA SPIDER!! Looks like it might be the species that preys on Pom Pom Anemones. There are also pom pom Anemones in the Muddy Bottom Tank so it looks like these may just be used as a food source for the Sea Spider.
-This brings up a good reminder, especially in the Sea Floor, it seems like there are a lot of animals that are not labeled. Another example is there's a Squat Lobster in the Muddy Bottom Tank from MBARI's story.
-Also a Thornyhead in the Whale Falls Tank. There's both Short and Longspine Thornyheads in there.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

Also it's the week! Saturday the exhibit officially opens, and I'm heading down to film and photograph it! I'll see if I can maybe get early access Friday since I have some connections but Saturday and Sunday for sure I'll be filming and shooting everything

 

[splendens]

Spotted ratfish not on display as well as the benthic siphonophore but these animals are now confirmed.

Black coral sp
Club tipped anemone
Puget sound box crab
Brachiopods
Funiculina sea pens
Halipteris sea pens

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

-Venus Fly Trap Anemones are in the Muddy Bottom Tank, there was some speculation whether it was an Apple or Venus Fly Trap Nem at first but BOTH species are in there. You can tell its a Venus Fly Trap from the bumpy sides
-Paul Clarkson confirms they've collected some Arbiter Snailfish, and we may possibly see 1 of 2 in the Coral Community Tank (Seamount Tank)

 

[DaLilFishie]

That tank looks tiny for those giant crabs.

Um... if they get to 12ft across their legspan, and some are already 10ft across, and the tank is only 20 ft by 11ft, how does that equate to the tank being "definitely adequate for their size"?

The tank size seems adequate to me. Japanese Spider Crabs are extremely inactive, they spend most of their time just standing in place. They don't need as much space as you'd think.

 

[Northwest_FIsh_Keeping]

The exhibit opens this Saturday! Thought I'd highlight some of the coolest content I've seen from the member previews so far here:
Monterey Bay Aquarium reveals new "Into the Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean" exhibit – KION546
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbwMg5CgVZ8/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbthzjKgYOt/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcCQzbTrOTK/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcBOZbNlnG9/