I visited the Osaka Aquarium in December 2019. As for getting there, the closest train station is Osakako Station, from which the aquarium is about a five minute walk. The subway stations in Osaka sell what is called the Osaka Kaiyu Ticket, which allows unlimited use of the metro for one day plus entry to Osaka Aquarium, and given that the lines for tickets at the aquarium can be very long, having your ticket before you get there is a good idea, allowing you to skip the line. If possible, I would recommend going on a weekday, it will be much less crowded and will be in general a better experience because of it.
Note that not all species in every exhibit will be listed, for a full (but outdated) list see Osaka Aquarium Stock List Translated [Osaka Aquarium]
The first exhibit in the aquarium is called the Aqua Gate, which is a small tunnel tank housing species such as Cownose Ray, Port Jackson Shark, Silver Moonyfish, Regal Tang, Cherry Porgy, Threadfin Cardinalfish, Scissortail Dartfish, Clark's Anemonefish, White-Spotted Puffer and Sergeant Major. The tank itself is pretty plain, with only a coral piece substrate and some artificial corals.
After that, the obligatory photo with some models of Whale Sharks and Manta Rays. You can skip the photo if you don't want it though. Next to the photo booth is the biggest escalator you've ever seen. The aquarium is 7 storeys (if I recall correctly), and the escalator takes you all the way to the top, and you view the exhibits as you spiral down towards the bottom, and many exhibits stretch over several storeys which lets you view the animals from several angles.
Once you reach the top of the escalator, you enter the Japan Forest exhibit, which displays native Japanese freshwater animals. The area is decorated with rocks and plants (didn't look too hard at them so I don't know if the plants are real or artificial). The exhibit has two levels, one allowing you to look down on the animals, and one letting you view them from water level. Animals displayed include Asian Small-Clawed Otter (not actually found in Japan), Mandarin Duck, Japanese Giant Salamander, some kind of char (I believe White-Spotted Char but I could be wrong), Crucian Carp and a small shoaling fish that I could not identify. The stairs that connect the two levels of the exhibit has a little waterfall leading into a pond underneath the stairs, and houses Geothelphusa dehaani, which either crawl around in the pond or cling to the vertical rock face as water pours over them.
The next exhibit is the Aleutian Islands exhibit, which is the first of the multi-storey tanks. It has a small land area at the back, and long strands of artificial kelp in the water. It houses Tufted Puffin and some kind of trout or salmon that I could identify. From videos I've seen on Youtube it seems to have previously housed Sea Otter as well, but it was absent on my visit.
Next is the Monterey Bay exhibit, another multi-storey tank, which is done up really nicely with rockwork sticking out of the water with artificial sponges on them, and a floating wood platform which I believe is supposed to represent a dock or jetty. The exhibit houses Largha Seal and Californian Sea Lion.
Next is the Gulf of Panama exhibit, another multi-storey tank, which houses Ringtailed Coati, Long-Spined Porcupinefish and Bigeyed Soldierfish.
Next is the Eucador Rainforest exhibit, which comprises of two tanks. The first, larger one houses, among others, Black Pacu, Xingu River Ray, Ripsaw Catfish, Silver Arowana, Arapaima, and what appeared to be a Tiger Shovelnose Catfish but cannot confirm ID. The second tank has a land area at the back and houses, among others, Capybara, Red-Bellied Piranha, Flag-Tailed Prochilodus, Arrau Turtle and Black Skirt Tetra. It was unusual to see piranhas mixed with other species, I imagine they must be kept well fed to stop them getting chompy with tankmates, although they almost certainly take a tetra or two every now and then. The first tank seemed to be pretty small for the Arapaima.
Next up, Antarctica exhibit, yet another multi-storey tank with a land area, some pretty heavy-duty air conditioners and a crushed ice machine that showers one end of the exhibit with ice. It houses three species of penguins, King Penguin, Gentoo Penguin and Adelie Penguin.
Next is the Tasman Sea exhibit, again multi-storey, which houses only one species, Pacific White-Sided Dolphin. Although the exhibit was better than most dolphin exhibits, I still felt it was far too small. The dolphins had a basic chew toy made out of what seemed to be a weight belt for SCUBA diving. Even so, the dolphins seemed to be very bored, making the exact same loop around the tank the entire time I was at the aquarium.
The next exhibit was another multi-storey tank, the Great Barrier Reef exhibit. It is a typical coral reef tank, with plenty of fish and artificial corals. The first view you get of the tank is looking down through the surface of the water, but you can still get underwater views from the other end of the tank and lower levels of the aquarium. It houses many species, including Yellow and Blueback Fuselier, Pinktail Triggerfish, Regal Tang, Blotched Foxface, Brown Tang, Sailfin Tang, Eyestripe Surgeonfish, Manybar Goatfish, Blue-Green Chromis, Schooling Bannerfish, Sergeant Major, Coral Catshark, Masked Spinefoot, Bignose Unicornfish, Stripey, Moorish Idol, Masked Bannerfish, Threadfin Butterflyfish, some species of bullseye, a species of boxfish, Bluespine Unicornfish, Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse and Blackback Butterflyfish. From images I've seen this exhibit has previously housed Humphead Maori Wrasse (Napoleon Wrasse) and what appeared to be Highfin Moray.
Next is the Seto Inland Sea exhibit, which is decorated with rocks and algae, with glass ball float things (not sure what they're actually called) and clay pots. It houses, among others, Japanese Sea Bass, Yellowback Seabream, Japanese Lates, Korean Rockfish, Spottedtail Morwong, Asian Sheepshead Wrasse and Japanese Spiny Lobster. From images I've seen the tank also houses Common Octopus and Japanese Bullhead Shark. This exhibit is in a bad position, and seems to mostly be given only a passing glance, as it is right next to the main attraction of the aquarium.
And that main attraction is the Pacific Ocean exhibit. It is the largest exhibit in the aquarium, stretching over several storeys and, according to the Osaka Aquarium's website, is 9 metres deep and 34 metres long. The tank is a weird cross shape, so the whole tank cannot be seen at once. It is completely bare other than a layer of coral pieces for substrate, and houses many species, such as Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, Indian Mackerel, Spotted Eagle Ray, Bowmouth Guitarfish, Humphead Maori Wrasse, Giant Grouper, Sharpnose Stingray, Pitted Stingray, Blacktip Reef Shark, Cownose Ray, Japanese Mobula Ray, Japanese Topeshark, Banded Houndshark, Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Humpback Snapper, Giant Trevally, Great Barracuda, Green Jobfish, Honeycomb Stingray, Japanese Wobbegong, Tawny Nurse Shark, Zebra Shark, Giant Guitarfish, Snubnose Dart, One-Spot Snapper, some kind of remora, juvenile Giant Trevally and of course their famous Whale Shark. From images and Youtube videos I have seen, it apparently previously housed Ocean Sunfish and some kind of manta ray (I don't know whether it was a Reef Manta or Oceanic Manta). There are a couple of side rooms off the main path that either have signage about Sea Otters or jellyfish (all only in Japanese), or seating so you can sit down and watch the fish go by. I felt that this tank, even though massive, was too small for the Whale Sharks, but it seemed to be a good size for it's other inhabitants.
The next exhibit I don't believe is supposed to represent a particular geographical location. It is another multi-storey tank with some rockwork at the bottom and long strands of artificial kelp. It houses Ocean Sunfish and Bigfin Reef Squid. I've seen images of a Giant Pacific Octopus in this exhibit but when I was there it was either off display or hiding somewhere. There were some Bigfin Reef Squid eggs at the bottom, and plastic sheeting near the glass, probably to cushion the impact if one of the Ocean Sunfish swims into the glass. The sunfish seemed quite lethargic and there wasn't much room for them to swim. They had lesions and areas of rubbed-off skin on them, probably from colliding with or scraping against the glass.
The next exhibit is the Coast of Chile, which has large rocks that point upwards and houses two species, Japanese Anchovy and South American Pilchard. The anchovies seem to prefer shoaling at the surface of their tank, while the pilchards circle the tank at all water levels.
I'm not too sure how to describe the next exhibit, other than it is very weird. It seems to be an area aimed towards kids, with the tanks decorated with plastic tidbits, beads, marbles and toys. It has several tanks housing species such as Pea Puffer, Regal Tang, Longnose Butterflyfish, Pink Skunk Anemonefish, a species of anemonefish that I can't identify, Tomato Clownfish, Spotted Garden Eel, Splendid Garden Eel, Moon Jelly, Longspine Porcupinefish, Occellaris Clownfish, Pyjama Cardinalfish, Green Terror Cichlid, some kind of seahorse, Mandarin Dragonet, Pixy Hawkfish, Yellow Tang, Moorish Idol, Whitetail Dascyllus, Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and Yellow Coralgoby.
The next exhibit is another multi-storey tank, the Cook Strait exhibit. It has a large rock in the centre with a large hole in the rock at the bottom that the animals can swim through. It houses Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Scarlet Wrasse, Australian Burrfish, Eastern Nannygai, Blue Maomao, Red Moki and Magpie Perch, among others.
The next exhibit is the Japan Trench. It is a large tank that is mostly bare at the front but has large rocks towards the back. It seems to have had dividers put in it to create 2 more tanks in the Deep Sea exhibit behind the Japan Trench. The Japan Trench exhibit houses deepwater and deep sea species such as Big Roughy, Gnomefish, Hilgendorf's Saucord, Australian Ghost Shark, a red fish that I believe is Ruby Snapper, Sunrise Perch, a species of scorpionfish or rockfish that I can't ID and the aquarium's famous Japanese Spider Crab.
Around the back of the Japan Trench exhibit is the Deep Sea exhibit. The divided-off sections of the Japan trench provide two large tanks and there are a few smaller tanks built into the wall. The tanks are mostly bare other than a few rocks to replicate the deep sea environment, and one has a (not sure if real or artificial) piece of whalebone. the exhibit houses Bathynomus doederleini, Blotchy Swellshark, some kind of deep sea hermit crab, some kind of anemone attached to the hermit crab's shells, Ebinania brephocephala, Striped Jewfish, Sunrise Perch, some kind of deep sea coral, a species of deep sea lizardfish, a species of deepwater anthias, some kind of deep sea squat lobster sort of thing and some kind of sea star.
Next to the Deep Sea exhibit is a cafe serving whale shark ice cream and garden eel hot dogs, among other things. I can't comment on the cafe or the food since I did not go inside.
Next is the Jellyfish exhibit, which displays many different species of sea jellies. I'm not too confident with my sea jelly ID, the only species that I could identify were Moon Jelly, Fried Egg Jelly, Japanese Sea Nettle and Blue Blubber Jelly. The tank housing the Blue Blubber Jelly was open-topped and low down, so it could be easily reached into, which is a little concerning.
Next is the Arctic Exhibit. It has two levels, you start on the bottom level which displays species such as Boreogadus saida, Clione, Banded Gunnel, some other kind of gunnel, Lumpsucker, Balloon Lumpsucker, some kind of shrimp, a species of Gorgonocephalus basket star, a fish that I can't ID but could be Arctic Char, some kind of sea squirt or sponge, and what I believe is some kind of anemone. The bottom floor has a window in the ceiling to view the Ringed Seal tank on the next floor from below.
On the next level of the Arctic exhibit there is a model of a Narwhal with information which I believe is about the collection of Arctic animals (again, only in Japanese), and a very small enclosure housing Ringed Seal, including the Osaka Aquarium's famous chubby Ringed Seal, Yuki. I suspect it's chubbiness is from a combination of overfeeding and lack of space to exercise. The exhibit is depressingly small, and the seals don't have much room. One side of the exhibit has a low wall that a person could reach over and touch the seals, which is not good.
Next is the Falkland Islands exhibit, which has one species, Southern Rockhopper Penguin. This exhibit too is pretty small, and the penguins only have a small and shallow pool with barely any room to swim. In addition, the walls of the exhibit are low so it could be possible for someone to reach out and touch the penguins, which is an issue.
Next is the Maldives Islands exhibit, which is a touch tank with sharks and rays. I didn't really pay this exhibit too much attention, so I can't remember off the top of my head which species it housed, but from images off Osaka Aquarium's website it seems to house species such as Cownose Ray, Zebra Shark, Pitted Stingray, Honeycomb Stingray, Brownbanded Bamboo Shark and another type of stingray that I can't identify. The tank was pretty small, and many of the animals seemed to be stressed from the constant handling, and there was no rest area for the animals to get away from the handling. There didn't seem to be any aquarium staff supervising the touch pool either.
At the end of the room there is a reef tank with a variety of corals, Half-And-Half Chromis, Two-Lined Monocle Bream, Black Sea Cucumber, a wrasse that I can't give a positive ID for but could be Christmas Wrasse, Spotted Garden Eel, an anemonefish that I can't identify and Eight-Lined Wrasse.
I'm not too sure what the last exhibit was supposed to be. It had tanks with a variety of species including Common Octopus, Castelnau's Jawfish, Pom-Pom Crab, Yellow Watchman Goby, Randall's Pistol Shrimp, a species of shrimpfish, Long-Spined Sea Urchin, a species of mudskipper (possibly Barred Mudskipper), Occellaris Clownfish, some kind of anemone, a species of hermit crab, some kind of crab and a few freshwater species that I could not identify. The Common Octopus tank was a bit concerning, it was open-topped and had no den, so the octopus appeared very stressed. The mudskipper tank was also open-topped and low down, so there was a possibilty of people trying to touch the mudskippers or the mudskippers escaping. The tank was filled with shallow water, so the mudskippers would sit halfway in the water, and no way for them to get out of the water.
At the end of the last exhibit, I realised I had missed a small exhibit displaying Bathynomus giganteus and Bathynomus doederleini that I had seen photos of. I decided to not go back and see it, as it would have been pretty difficult to backtrack against the flow of traffic.
I didn't keep track of how long I spent at the aquarium, but it was at least a few hours.
Pros
- Whale Sharks!
- Big collection of pelagic fish species
- Sizeable collection of rare species
- Good collection of Arctic and deep sea species
- Multi-storey exhibits give a good view of the animals from different angles
- Most exhibits are themed around a specific geographical location
Cons
- Quite busy, even on weekdays
- Dolphin, seal, Whale Shark, Arapaima and Rockhopper Penguin exhibits were too small for the animals
- Touch pool is unsupervised
- Poor exhibit design allowing people to touch the animals
- Cetaceans
Other
- Layout can look confusing on a map but there is no way you are going to get lost. It's basically just a big, winding hallway, with some small side areas.
Note that not all species in every exhibit will be listed, for a full (but outdated) list see Osaka Aquarium Stock List Translated [Osaka Aquarium]
The first exhibit in the aquarium is called the Aqua Gate, which is a small tunnel tank housing species such as Cownose Ray, Port Jackson Shark, Silver Moonyfish, Regal Tang, Cherry Porgy, Threadfin Cardinalfish, Scissortail Dartfish, Clark's Anemonefish, White-Spotted Puffer and Sergeant Major. The tank itself is pretty plain, with only a coral piece substrate and some artificial corals.
After that, the obligatory photo with some models of Whale Sharks and Manta Rays. You can skip the photo if you don't want it though. Next to the photo booth is the biggest escalator you've ever seen. The aquarium is 7 storeys (if I recall correctly), and the escalator takes you all the way to the top, and you view the exhibits as you spiral down towards the bottom, and many exhibits stretch over several storeys which lets you view the animals from several angles.
Once you reach the top of the escalator, you enter the Japan Forest exhibit, which displays native Japanese freshwater animals. The area is decorated with rocks and plants (didn't look too hard at them so I don't know if the plants are real or artificial). The exhibit has two levels, one allowing you to look down on the animals, and one letting you view them from water level. Animals displayed include Asian Small-Clawed Otter (not actually found in Japan), Mandarin Duck, Japanese Giant Salamander, some kind of char (I believe White-Spotted Char but I could be wrong), Crucian Carp and a small shoaling fish that I could not identify. The stairs that connect the two levels of the exhibit has a little waterfall leading into a pond underneath the stairs, and houses Geothelphusa dehaani, which either crawl around in the pond or cling to the vertical rock face as water pours over them.
The next exhibit is the Aleutian Islands exhibit, which is the first of the multi-storey tanks. It has a small land area at the back, and long strands of artificial kelp in the water. It houses Tufted Puffin and some kind of trout or salmon that I could identify. From videos I've seen on Youtube it seems to have previously housed Sea Otter as well, but it was absent on my visit.
Next is the Monterey Bay exhibit, another multi-storey tank, which is done up really nicely with rockwork sticking out of the water with artificial sponges on them, and a floating wood platform which I believe is supposed to represent a dock or jetty. The exhibit houses Largha Seal and Californian Sea Lion.
Next is the Gulf of Panama exhibit, another multi-storey tank, which houses Ringtailed Coati, Long-Spined Porcupinefish and Bigeyed Soldierfish.
Next is the Eucador Rainforest exhibit, which comprises of two tanks. The first, larger one houses, among others, Black Pacu, Xingu River Ray, Ripsaw Catfish, Silver Arowana, Arapaima, and what appeared to be a Tiger Shovelnose Catfish but cannot confirm ID. The second tank has a land area at the back and houses, among others, Capybara, Red-Bellied Piranha, Flag-Tailed Prochilodus, Arrau Turtle and Black Skirt Tetra. It was unusual to see piranhas mixed with other species, I imagine they must be kept well fed to stop them getting chompy with tankmates, although they almost certainly take a tetra or two every now and then. The first tank seemed to be pretty small for the Arapaima.
Next up, Antarctica exhibit, yet another multi-storey tank with a land area, some pretty heavy-duty air conditioners and a crushed ice machine that showers one end of the exhibit with ice. It houses three species of penguins, King Penguin, Gentoo Penguin and Adelie Penguin.
Next is the Tasman Sea exhibit, again multi-storey, which houses only one species, Pacific White-Sided Dolphin. Although the exhibit was better than most dolphin exhibits, I still felt it was far too small. The dolphins had a basic chew toy made out of what seemed to be a weight belt for SCUBA diving. Even so, the dolphins seemed to be very bored, making the exact same loop around the tank the entire time I was at the aquarium.
The next exhibit was another multi-storey tank, the Great Barrier Reef exhibit. It is a typical coral reef tank, with plenty of fish and artificial corals. The first view you get of the tank is looking down through the surface of the water, but you can still get underwater views from the other end of the tank and lower levels of the aquarium. It houses many species, including Yellow and Blueback Fuselier, Pinktail Triggerfish, Regal Tang, Blotched Foxface, Brown Tang, Sailfin Tang, Eyestripe Surgeonfish, Manybar Goatfish, Blue-Green Chromis, Schooling Bannerfish, Sergeant Major, Coral Catshark, Masked Spinefoot, Bignose Unicornfish, Stripey, Moorish Idol, Masked Bannerfish, Threadfin Butterflyfish, some species of bullseye, a species of boxfish, Bluespine Unicornfish, Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse and Blackback Butterflyfish. From images I've seen this exhibit has previously housed Humphead Maori Wrasse (Napoleon Wrasse) and what appeared to be Highfin Moray.
Next is the Seto Inland Sea exhibit, which is decorated with rocks and algae, with glass ball float things (not sure what they're actually called) and clay pots. It houses, among others, Japanese Sea Bass, Yellowback Seabream, Japanese Lates, Korean Rockfish, Spottedtail Morwong, Asian Sheepshead Wrasse and Japanese Spiny Lobster. From images I've seen the tank also houses Common Octopus and Japanese Bullhead Shark. This exhibit is in a bad position, and seems to mostly be given only a passing glance, as it is right next to the main attraction of the aquarium.
And that main attraction is the Pacific Ocean exhibit. It is the largest exhibit in the aquarium, stretching over several storeys and, according to the Osaka Aquarium's website, is 9 metres deep and 34 metres long. The tank is a weird cross shape, so the whole tank cannot be seen at once. It is completely bare other than a layer of coral pieces for substrate, and houses many species, such as Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, Indian Mackerel, Spotted Eagle Ray, Bowmouth Guitarfish, Humphead Maori Wrasse, Giant Grouper, Sharpnose Stingray, Pitted Stingray, Blacktip Reef Shark, Cownose Ray, Japanese Mobula Ray, Japanese Topeshark, Banded Houndshark, Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasse, Humpback Snapper, Giant Trevally, Great Barracuda, Green Jobfish, Honeycomb Stingray, Japanese Wobbegong, Tawny Nurse Shark, Zebra Shark, Giant Guitarfish, Snubnose Dart, One-Spot Snapper, some kind of remora, juvenile Giant Trevally and of course their famous Whale Shark. From images and Youtube videos I have seen, it apparently previously housed Ocean Sunfish and some kind of manta ray (I don't know whether it was a Reef Manta or Oceanic Manta). There are a couple of side rooms off the main path that either have signage about Sea Otters or jellyfish (all only in Japanese), or seating so you can sit down and watch the fish go by. I felt that this tank, even though massive, was too small for the Whale Sharks, but it seemed to be a good size for it's other inhabitants.
The next exhibit I don't believe is supposed to represent a particular geographical location. It is another multi-storey tank with some rockwork at the bottom and long strands of artificial kelp. It houses Ocean Sunfish and Bigfin Reef Squid. I've seen images of a Giant Pacific Octopus in this exhibit but when I was there it was either off display or hiding somewhere. There were some Bigfin Reef Squid eggs at the bottom, and plastic sheeting near the glass, probably to cushion the impact if one of the Ocean Sunfish swims into the glass. The sunfish seemed quite lethargic and there wasn't much room for them to swim. They had lesions and areas of rubbed-off skin on them, probably from colliding with or scraping against the glass.
The next exhibit is the Coast of Chile, which has large rocks that point upwards and houses two species, Japanese Anchovy and South American Pilchard. The anchovies seem to prefer shoaling at the surface of their tank, while the pilchards circle the tank at all water levels.
I'm not too sure how to describe the next exhibit, other than it is very weird. It seems to be an area aimed towards kids, with the tanks decorated with plastic tidbits, beads, marbles and toys. It has several tanks housing species such as Pea Puffer, Regal Tang, Longnose Butterflyfish, Pink Skunk Anemonefish, a species of anemonefish that I can't identify, Tomato Clownfish, Spotted Garden Eel, Splendid Garden Eel, Moon Jelly, Longspine Porcupinefish, Occellaris Clownfish, Pyjama Cardinalfish, Green Terror Cichlid, some kind of seahorse, Mandarin Dragonet, Pixy Hawkfish, Yellow Tang, Moorish Idol, Whitetail Dascyllus, Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and Yellow Coralgoby.
The next exhibit is another multi-storey tank, the Cook Strait exhibit. It has a large rock in the centre with a large hole in the rock at the bottom that the animals can swim through. It houses Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Scarlet Wrasse, Australian Burrfish, Eastern Nannygai, Blue Maomao, Red Moki and Magpie Perch, among others.
The next exhibit is the Japan Trench. It is a large tank that is mostly bare at the front but has large rocks towards the back. It seems to have had dividers put in it to create 2 more tanks in the Deep Sea exhibit behind the Japan Trench. The Japan Trench exhibit houses deepwater and deep sea species such as Big Roughy, Gnomefish, Hilgendorf's Saucord, Australian Ghost Shark, a red fish that I believe is Ruby Snapper, Sunrise Perch, a species of scorpionfish or rockfish that I can't ID and the aquarium's famous Japanese Spider Crab.
Around the back of the Japan Trench exhibit is the Deep Sea exhibit. The divided-off sections of the Japan trench provide two large tanks and there are a few smaller tanks built into the wall. The tanks are mostly bare other than a few rocks to replicate the deep sea environment, and one has a (not sure if real or artificial) piece of whalebone. the exhibit houses Bathynomus doederleini, Blotchy Swellshark, some kind of deep sea hermit crab, some kind of anemone attached to the hermit crab's shells, Ebinania brephocephala, Striped Jewfish, Sunrise Perch, some kind of deep sea coral, a species of deep sea lizardfish, a species of deepwater anthias, some kind of deep sea squat lobster sort of thing and some kind of sea star.
Next to the Deep Sea exhibit is a cafe serving whale shark ice cream and garden eel hot dogs, among other things. I can't comment on the cafe or the food since I did not go inside.
Next is the Jellyfish exhibit, which displays many different species of sea jellies. I'm not too confident with my sea jelly ID, the only species that I could identify were Moon Jelly, Fried Egg Jelly, Japanese Sea Nettle and Blue Blubber Jelly. The tank housing the Blue Blubber Jelly was open-topped and low down, so it could be easily reached into, which is a little concerning.
Next is the Arctic Exhibit. It has two levels, you start on the bottom level which displays species such as Boreogadus saida, Clione, Banded Gunnel, some other kind of gunnel, Lumpsucker, Balloon Lumpsucker, some kind of shrimp, a species of Gorgonocephalus basket star, a fish that I can't ID but could be Arctic Char, some kind of sea squirt or sponge, and what I believe is some kind of anemone. The bottom floor has a window in the ceiling to view the Ringed Seal tank on the next floor from below.
On the next level of the Arctic exhibit there is a model of a Narwhal with information which I believe is about the collection of Arctic animals (again, only in Japanese), and a very small enclosure housing Ringed Seal, including the Osaka Aquarium's famous chubby Ringed Seal, Yuki. I suspect it's chubbiness is from a combination of overfeeding and lack of space to exercise. The exhibit is depressingly small, and the seals don't have much room. One side of the exhibit has a low wall that a person could reach over and touch the seals, which is not good.
Next is the Falkland Islands exhibit, which has one species, Southern Rockhopper Penguin. This exhibit too is pretty small, and the penguins only have a small and shallow pool with barely any room to swim. In addition, the walls of the exhibit are low so it could be possible for someone to reach out and touch the penguins, which is an issue.
Next is the Maldives Islands exhibit, which is a touch tank with sharks and rays. I didn't really pay this exhibit too much attention, so I can't remember off the top of my head which species it housed, but from images off Osaka Aquarium's website it seems to house species such as Cownose Ray, Zebra Shark, Pitted Stingray, Honeycomb Stingray, Brownbanded Bamboo Shark and another type of stingray that I can't identify. The tank was pretty small, and many of the animals seemed to be stressed from the constant handling, and there was no rest area for the animals to get away from the handling. There didn't seem to be any aquarium staff supervising the touch pool either.
At the end of the room there is a reef tank with a variety of corals, Half-And-Half Chromis, Two-Lined Monocle Bream, Black Sea Cucumber, a wrasse that I can't give a positive ID for but could be Christmas Wrasse, Spotted Garden Eel, an anemonefish that I can't identify and Eight-Lined Wrasse.
I'm not too sure what the last exhibit was supposed to be. It had tanks with a variety of species including Common Octopus, Castelnau's Jawfish, Pom-Pom Crab, Yellow Watchman Goby, Randall's Pistol Shrimp, a species of shrimpfish, Long-Spined Sea Urchin, a species of mudskipper (possibly Barred Mudskipper), Occellaris Clownfish, some kind of anemone, a species of hermit crab, some kind of crab and a few freshwater species that I could not identify. The Common Octopus tank was a bit concerning, it was open-topped and had no den, so the octopus appeared very stressed. The mudskipper tank was also open-topped and low down, so there was a possibilty of people trying to touch the mudskippers or the mudskippers escaping. The tank was filled with shallow water, so the mudskippers would sit halfway in the water, and no way for them to get out of the water.
At the end of the last exhibit, I realised I had missed a small exhibit displaying Bathynomus giganteus and Bathynomus doederleini that I had seen photos of. I decided to not go back and see it, as it would have been pretty difficult to backtrack against the flow of traffic.
I didn't keep track of how long I spent at the aquarium, but it was at least a few hours.
Pros
- Whale Sharks!
- Big collection of pelagic fish species
- Sizeable collection of rare species
- Good collection of Arctic and deep sea species
- Multi-storey exhibits give a good view of the animals from different angles
- Most exhibits are themed around a specific geographical location
Cons
- Quite busy, even on weekdays
- Dolphin, seal, Whale Shark, Arapaima and Rockhopper Penguin exhibits were too small for the animals
- Touch pool is unsupervised
- Poor exhibit design allowing people to touch the animals
- Cetaceans
Other
- Layout can look confusing on a map but there is no way you are going to get lost. It's basically just a big, winding hallway, with some small side areas.