Monterey Bay Aquarium Major deep sea animal exhibit coming to MBA

Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
New Species on Display! Phronima are out, and welcome the Blind Lobster Larvae!

According to the site these guys are now on display where the Phronima used to be.
This species was held at the Aquarium all the way back in the late 1990's when "Mysteries of the Deep" was going on. I'm not sure if the Blind Lobster Larvae were on display for that exhibit but they were shown in some Behind-The-Scenes footage.

A cool thing they might be doing is displaying the larvae, then moving them behind the scenes to possibly grow to adulthood and then displaying the adults. I'm not sure how possible that is since their life cycle is kind of confusing (They start out as Larvae in the Midwater then the Adults are Benthic). Anyways can't wait to see media of these
Lobster larva | Animals | Monterey Bay Aquarium
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Correction, unfortunately while the profile on the website says in the desc that it's meant for Blind Lobster Larvae, it's actually Phyllosoma that are on display, not Deep-Sea Blind Lobster young. Thanks to my friend @/Kingtidecorals for that update, here's a good video he took of them King Tide Corals on Instagram: "Ever seen a baby lobster riding a jellyfish? This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting @montereybayaquarium ; the first exhibit that really interested me was “Into the Deep”. A very special collection of deep water species brought the inner child out of me! In this video you see lobster larva from Deep-Sea Blind Lobsters; these little ones catch rides on the jellyfish in the darkness of the deep. Honestly, one of the craziest things I’ve seen in a while! • • • #aquascape #plantedtank #nanoreef #nanoreeftank #nanoreefer #corals #coral #reeftank #coralreef #reef #nanoaquascape #aquariumhobby #saltwatertank #saltwateraquarium #aquariumlife #aquarium #fish #marinetank #reefaquarium #fishtank #aquariumsofinstagram #allmymoneygoestocoral #nanoaquarium #reef2reef #reefbuilders #macroalgae #kingtidecorals"

Chandelier Jellies (Eumedusa sp.) are also back on display according to the website. And more Predatory Tunicates have been added to the Muddy Bottom Habitat Tank along with some other small inverts I can't ID via Alicia Bitondo Alicia Bitondo (@insomniaquarist) • Instagram photos and videos

Also from Alicia is a cool timelapse of Predatory Tunicate opening up in the morning, and something @splendens pointed out in the video is that there is a pretty cool mollusk (looks like a snail) of some sort with an Anemone attached to it's shell. Alicia Bitondo (@insomniaquarist) • Instagram photos and videos
 
splendens said:
The anemone is Isosicyonis. They have been on the shells for a while but pretty sure no one noticed that the shells were alive.
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Thank you for the ID! Doing some more research from that, I think the snail is most likely Harpovoluta charcoti . The color and shape of the shell match pretty well and the only photo I could find of a live one looks to be very similar.
I also didn't know that Isosicyonis Anemones are found almost exclusively on Snail Shells. 2 for1 Deal
 
Umbrella Comb Jellies (Thalassocalyce Inconstans) are now off display, and the Tower Jellies (Neoturris sp.) have taken their spot according to the Site

This makes the current Animals on display in the Midwater as so:
-Phyllosoma (Lobster Larvae)
-Bloody-Belly Comb Jellies
-Chandelier Jellies
-Lobed Comb Jellies
-Common Siphonophores
-Abyssal Comb Jellies
-Tower Jellies
And the "Red X" Undescribed Comb Jellies
 
Update: Thanks to VampyrSquid and NightFall in the MBA Discord, Chandelier Jellies actually aren't on display. Purple Lipped Jellies are still there, which means it must've been a mistake on the site.

However, Tower Jellies (Neoturris sp.) have replaced the Umbrella Comb Jellies (Thalassocalyce Inconstans) so those are now in the Big Tank in the Midwater
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Update: Thanks to VampyrSquid and NightFall in the MBA Discord, Chandelier Jellies actually aren't on display. Purple Lipped Jellies are still there, which means it must've been a mistake on the site.

However, Tower Jellies (Neoturris sp.) have replaced the Umbrella Comb Jellies (Thalassocalyce Inconstans) so those are now in the Big Tank in the Midwater
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Has any mention been made if they are planning on exhibiting any deep sea cephalopods over the course of the deep sea exhibit?
 
DavidBrown said:
Has any mention been made if they are planning on exhibiting any deep sea cephalopods over the course of the deep sea exhibit?
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None of the staff have said anything regarding Cephalopods yet, although I hope so. They're track record from Tentacles is really good with them.

I did ask Matt Wandell this and he mentioned Vampire Squid as something they pass over when they see them, so I don't think we'll see those for the mean time. But the others like the Dumbo Octos, Strawberry Squid, Japatella Ocotos, etc I hope / feel like we could sew those again.
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I was looking through some of the comments on the Aquarium's socials and found some interesting bits of news. They say both "Animals AND Exhibits" when talking about rotations. Animals we've already known, but the exhibit is interesting. It depends on how you interpret it but to me that means they could change some of the Dioramas or other interactive things in the exhibit. If they mean tanks, that'd be cool if they added another Midwater or Benthic display down the road.
It also sounds like Flapjack Octos will be a thing in the future which is awesome. If I remember correctly, they were the Deep-Sea Ceph that was displayed the most in Tentacles (I think it was 24 individuals they displayed? I remember 16 at least but I have a vague memory for 24 being the number)
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DavidBrown said:
Has any mention been made if they are planning on exhibiting any deep sea cephalopods over the course of the deep sea exhibit?
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The First Benthic Rotation since the exhibit opening!

North Pacific Bigeye Octopus (Octopus californicus) are said to be on display, and the Pacific Hagfish are off display. Looking forward to the media of them
This species isn't new for the Aquarium since it's been displayed a few times before, and since they can sometimes be found in shallower (but still deep) waters, it looks like they don't need to Red Lighting like the other Deep-Sea Cephs to be on display.

Into the Deep | Exhibition | Monterey Bay Aquarium
 
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Here are some really interesting and cool facts from Alicia Bitondo about the new Bigeyes:
-There are 6 of the North Pacific Bigeye Octopus on Display since they're actually all small juveniles
-They were collected as eggs from the wild (the mother was most likely already deceased) and brought back to the Aquarium where they were raised BTS before going on display
(It's probably harder for species they don't have experience raising yet, especially with how long some species incubate for, but perhaps this opens up the possibility of doing this with other Deep-Sea Cephs and other animals that leaves egg cases in the open like Tomopteris Worms)

Someone brought up the subject of Midwater Fish (Anglers, Hatchetfish, Barreleye, etc), and Alicia mentioned that most often, the fish get scared by the ROV Lights before they can see them, and that collecting and transporting them would be extremely difficult without doing damage to them. So for now in the Midwater Gallery, it looks like it'll still be Jellies and Inverts for a while. Can't wait to see more R&D towards that, I know they mentioned they won't but seeing a Barreleye in the Future is probably on everyone's bucket list lol
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Some updates of recent:
-It's been confirmed that the Big Eye Octopus babies actually came from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego thanks to a really cool project they had going on over there, you can read about it here: Rescued Octopus Provides Rare Chance for Researchers to Understand Life Cycle | Scripps Institution of Oceanography (ucsd.edu)

It took a while to find out, but thanks to this Instagram post , Tower Jellies (Neoturris sp.) have been off display for a bit, and Chandelier Jellies (Eumedusa sp.) are back on display! The Chandelier Jellies are in the small circle tank in the Midwater where the Purple Lipped Jellies (Earlaria purpurea) were, and the Purple Lipped Jellies have moved to the Big Tank where the Tower Jellies were before. This makes the current Midwater species list:
-Mauve Stingers & Lobster Larvae
-Bloody Belly Comb Jellies
-Chandelier Jellies
-Purple Lipped Jellies
-Lobed Comb Jellies
-Common Siphonphores
-Abyssal Comb Jellies
-"Red X" (undescribed) Cydippid Comb Jellies
 
According to this Instagram post, Snow Globe Jellies (Modeeria Rotunda) are back on display for the first time since the exhibit opened. I can't tell what they rotated with, possibly the Chandelier Jellies since you can see the Purple Lipped Jelly sign in the reflection. I love these so glad to see they're back out on display.
(Slides 7 & 8)
Mandy on Instagram: "Found Nemo and Dory! Saw rainbow 3 times! #montereybayaquarium #montereybay #sardine #jellyfish #penguin #seaotter #japanesespidercrab #rainbow #octopus"
 
As of January 28,
2 individuals of an unknown spider crab are inside of the bone eating worm tank.
3 anemones likely of the genus Mitridium are in the bone eating worm tank.
These were posted on instagram a while ago by Alicia Bitondo but deep sea skeleton shrimp are inside the muddy bottoms tank along with a small isopod or amphipod.
It seems there are a large tube worm or another organism living in the sea mount tank?

Most bone eating worms seem to have died out after they were displayed in large numbers, it may be because of their life cycle where they die off after depleting a whale fall and reproduce though it seems like most of the bones are still almost completely intact.
The corallimorphid is gone in the muddy bottoms tank.
It seems there are a large tube worm or another organism living in the sea mount tank?
There are 3 salmon snailfish in the tank.

Species gained Unknown spider crab, Mitridium sp. (Skeleton shrimp and the other organism may have been present since the beginning.)

Species lost Corallimorphid, most bone eating worms
 
Thanks to this youtube video (28:57) from about a week ago, there's a new show in the auditorium called "Making Into the Deep" "Join our team on a ground breaking journey to bring the deep-sea to land in our newest exhibition."
Whether it's got new information and footage we haven't seen yet, or it's just everything we know already but in a movie style video, I'm not sure. Hopefully someone who's going down soon catches it. I might catch it next time I go down to see if there's anything new in it
 
A spotlight on one of the more unique animals in the exhibit from the Aquarium; the Glowing Sea Cucumber (Pannychia moseleyi) From the captions, it sounds like the video of Bioluminesce was taken at the Aquarium behind the scenes which is super cool. I haven't seen these guys on my two trips so far but hopefully on my 3rd I'll finally be able to see and photograph them. They're in both the Muddy Bottom Habitat (signed) and the Coral Community Tank.
Monterey Bay Aquarium on Instagram: "Time for a sea cucumber ✨GLOW UP✨ (Thanks to @mbari_news for the first two video clips!) #MontereyBayAquarium #WhatWereSayingIsThatTheSeaCucumberGlowsWhenItsInAPickle #PredatorsThinkMaybeYoureAFirework #ButYoureReallyAnEEKchinoderm"
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
According to this Instagram post, Snow Globe Jellies (Modeeria Rotunda) are back on display for the first time since the exhibit opened. I can't tell what they rotated with, possibly the Chandelier Jellies since you can see the Purple Lipped Jelly sign in the reflection. I love these so glad to see they're back out on display.
(Slides 7 & 8)
Mandy on Instagram: "Found Nemo and Dory! Saw rainbow 3 times! #montereybayaquarium #montereybay #sardine #jellyfish #penguin #seaotter #japanesespidercrab #rainbow #octopus"
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Yes, they rotated with the Chandelier jellies
 
ChunkyMunky pengopus said:
The lighting setup for them is actually very interesting, sort of a rotation of lighting that allows different sides of the tank to be lit at different times while leaving other parts in the shadows.
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Oh that's cool, I know for the siphonophores they have the lights ramp up slowly in the morning and down slowly during closing so they don't stress them out. That's super neat, hopefully they'll still be on display when I go back down in April. I know that's only a month away but then again Cephs age pretty fast so fingers crossed
 
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