Hello,
welcome to the Aquarium of my zoo.
This building is located near the African, Asian and Oceanian sections, as a recall of the richness of these 3 regions for aquatic and marine life.
It includes 3 decks : the upper is dedicated to freshwater species of fish and invertebrates, the middle to the temperate seas and the lower to the tropical seas. All them can be visited successively along a labyrinth-like path.
In this place there are thousands of fish, but there isn't information about the sexes of nearly all the animals, given the difficulty to identify the sex for most species (not to mention the species that change their sex, like groupers or clownfish!).
Map of the 1st floor of the aquarium :
You can see that the tanks have different colours : for this floor the green aquaria are dedicated to Europe (light green) and North America (dark green), the brown/yellow are dedicated to the tropics (orange for Latin America, brown for Africa, yellow for Asia), finally there are a few dark brown exhibits for the "domestic breeds" of fish, with a special scenography about aquariophilia.
Let's begin with Europe !
Near the entrance of the building, the 2 first tanks are dedicated to very common species of our slow rivers and lakes :
- 1) Common Carp Cyprinus carpio (0.0.50)
- 2) Common Bream Abramis brama (0.0.93), Zebra Mussel Dreissena polymorpha (0.0.69)
Common Carp :
(Credits : Haliaeetus)
Then, the more rapid streams are represented with smaller 3 tanks and 4 species :
- 3) Belica Leucaspius delineatus (0.0.97), Schneider Alburnoides bipunctatus (0.0.26)
- 4) Stone Loach Barbatula barbatula (0.0.17)
- 5) Burbot Lota lota (0.0.5)
The last 2 species bred in 2020, that led, by the end of 2020, to
76 juvenile Stone Loaches and
63 juvenile Burbots. Both could be seen in the Nursery quarter, in the North Asian Zone (see back, to this part of the zoo).
Burbot exhibit :
(Credits : geomorph)
Burbot :
(Credits : moebelle)
The next 2 aquariums are North American, we can see there :
- 6) Lake Trout Salvelinus namaycush (0.0.6)
- 7) Black-banded Sunfish Enneacanthus chaetodon (0.0.80)
Possible look of the Lake Trout Aquarium :
(Credits : TinoPup)
We go back to Europe for the next 2 aquaria, especially dedicated to 2 species of migratory fish :
- 8) European Eel Anguilla anguilla (0.0.70)
- 9) European River Lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis (0.0.2)
Near these aquaria there are panels that explain the challenges encountered by migratory fish, that are negatively impacted by dams, pollution and alteration of the rivers (and the seas).
The Zoo supports a conservation project in France, designed to remove or adapt some dams that are detrimental for migratory fish like Eels, Salmons and Lampreys. It's the first properly "aquatic" conservation action I describe in my Zoo.
European Eel :
(Credits : Hanjo)
We enter now in 2 very large aquariums, crossed by tunnels that allow the visitors to walk in the middle of fish. They are the first tanks of this kind, several others will be crossed in the marine sections.
These ones are dedicated to some of the largest European and North American species of fish, more precisely :
- 10) Sterlet Acipenser ruthenus (0.0.16)
- 11) Mississippi Paddlefish Polyodon spathula (0.0.9), Spotted Gar Lepisosteus oculatus (0.0.10)
Sterlet :
(Credits : vogelcommando)
Mississippi Paddlefish :
(Credits : zoogiraffe)
Spotted Gar :
(Credits : DaLilFishie)
Along the Sterlet exhibit, there's information about the status and protection of Sturgeons in Eurasia. These ancestral fishes are threatened by the pollution and the excessive fishing (to collect the eggs, prized as a delicacy).
Nonetheless the Sterlet has a better conservation status than most Sturgeon species of the region. The Zoo participates to restock this species in the Danube basin, with a project in Rumania (see the European Zone of the Zoo for additional information about rewilding conservation projects supported by the Zoo).
Some Sturgeons displayed here are born in the Zoo in 2019 and before.
After the tanks for these river giants, we come now in the first part of the tropical freshwater section, here dedicated to Neotropical fishes. Some of them are popular as pets, other can seem bizarre or even frightening.
All the exhibits highlight the adaptations and the ecological interest of these species, that deserve protection.
We begin in a cave-like exhibit (12) for
Blind Cave Tetras Astyanax jordani (0.0.39) that can be seen in the twilight. These conditions are close to their natural habitat in Mexico where they are endemics.
The next tank is a large (13) comunity aquarium with many species, some of them commonly raised by the fancy aquariophilists around the world :
- Duckbill Catfish Sorubim lima (0.0.5)
- Flag Cichlid Mesonauta festivus (0.0.8)
- Amazon Leaffish Monocirrhus polyacanthus (0.0.14)
- Three-lined Pencilfish Nannostomus trifasciatus (0.0.88)
- Red Discus Symphysodon discus (0.0.13)
- Bucktooth Tetra Exodon paradoxus (0.0.18)
Flag Cichlids :
(Credits : Fishapod)
Amazon Leaffish :
(Credits : vogelcommando)
In the next days I'll present the remainder of the South American species, plus the African and Asian freshwater species.
Now you can give me your first impressions of this aquatic section.
Stay in touch !
and throughout much of that time several collections held the species.
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