Shedd Aquarium Shedd Aquarium

Three female bowmouth guitarfish have taken up residency in Wild Reef. All three are from Taiwan and are estimated to be about a year old.
Shedd Aquarium (@shedd_aquarium) • Instagram photos and videos
Glad to see those 3 are doing well! Can't wait for ours (Seattle Aquarium) here to make their debut as well next Summer!
Fun fact is that their all from the same rescue mission that Shedd is talking about. The other 2 Aquariums besides us & Shedd that rescued some of the pups were Georgia and Disney's "The Seas" Aquarium in Florida.
The main goal is to setup a Species Survival Plan for them since I think the genetic pool is getting to the point where it's diverse enough that they're able to breed with each other without the worry of a lack of genetic diversity.
 
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Shedd Aquarium (@shedd_aquarium) • Instagram photos and videos
Glad to see those 3 are doing well! Can't wait for ours (Seattle Aquarium) here to make their debut as well next Summer!
Fun fact is that their all from the same rescue mission that Shedd is talking about. The other 2 Aquariums besides us & Shedd that rescued some of the pups were Georgia and Disney's "The Seas" Aquarium in Florida.
The main goal is to setup a Species Survival Plan for them since I think the genetic pool is getting to the point where it's diverse enough that they're able to breed with each other without the worry of a lack of genetic diversity.

An actual SSP or just breeding? If these pups are all related and I believe there are very few individuals already in captivity, institutions may just breed for numbers. But interesting regardless.
 
An actual SSP or just breeding? If these pups are all related and I believe there are very few individuals already in captivity, institutions may just breed for numbers. But interesting regardless.
The last I heard was that the Aquariums are planning on pitching an actual SSP but you're right, I think that makes 5 (?) Aquariums in the US that have Bowmouth in their collection (Seattle, Georgia, Shedd, Disney, and Newport) and considering 9 of those individuals (iirc that's how many pups were rescued and distributed amongst the 4 Aquariums) are siblings, it doesn't leave much of a diverse genetic pool but it'll be interesting to see what the AZA says.
At least for us, the Bowmouth is a species on our radar as one we do want to work on as apart of the ReShark program in the upcoming years.
 
The last I heard was that the Aquariums are planning on pitching an actual SSP but you're right, I think that makes 5 (?) Aquariums in the US that have Bowmouth in their collection (Seattle, Georgia, Shedd, Disney, and Newport) and considering 9 of those individuals (iirc that's how many pups were rescued and distributed amongst the 4 Aquariums) are siblings, it doesn't leave much of a diverse genetic pool but it'll be interesting to see what the AZA says.
Five aquariums isn't nearly enough institutions for an SSP. Based on the re-imagined SSP frameworks, there would need to be fifteen facilities (or close to it) keeping a species to even qualify. That being said, the Marine Fishes TAG already has a Bowmouth Guitarfish studbook, so there is some AZA management of the species ongoing.
 
Other Late 2023 News:

On October 30th, the aquarium announced that (0.0.3+?) orbicular batfish hatched which are on display in the Plankton Revealed gallery.

Look at these juvenile round batfish that hatched here at Shedd! These fish get their name due to their batlike shape. During the day juvenile... | By Shedd Aquarium | Facebook

On November 15th, the aquarium announced they moved their weedy seadragons to the Oceans gallery.

Seadragons are back on exhibit! Come visit them in the Oceans gallery! Get tickets — https://bit.ly/3G2AkgQ. | By Shedd Aquarium | Facebook
Chicago's Shedd Aquarium welcomes its first rockhopper penguin chick in 8 years
There is a new southern rockhopper penguin chick! It hatched on June 16.

On November 30th, the aquarium announced the penguin's gender (0.1) and name, Isla.

Shedd Aquarium

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On December 29th, the aquarium announced they acquired (0.0.2) Mertens' water monitors and a (0.0.1) Brazillian rainbow boa named Roy G. Biv which are behind the scenes.

Shedd Aquarium

On January 8th, 2024, the aquarium announced they moved their dwarf caimans from the Amazon Rising gallery to the Islands and Lakes gallery.

Shedd Aquarium
The Alaska SeaLife Center has relocated an eight-week old male sea otter to Chicago. He looks really cute!

A sea otter pup found alone in Alaska has a new home at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium

On February 15th, the aquarium announced that the sea otter is now on exhibit in the Oceanarium area.

The Pup is Introduced to the Otter Exhibit | Major milestone moment! After much anticipation, the sea otter pup is officially introduced to the exhibit in the Oceanarium! From the moment he... | By Shedd Aquarium | Facebook
 

On March 27th, the aquarium announced the otter's name, Seldovia.

Shedd Aquarium

On April 17th, the aquarium announced they moved the flamboyant cuttlefish back on display in the Wild Reef gallery.

Shedd Aquarium
 
Credit to the Shedd -- they did their work amazingly quickly. I was just complaining months ago about the closure of the old Reef being so abrupt, but the skeleton of Wonders of Water is already up from the looks of it!
 
I am really surprised there have not been any beluga births at Shedd in quite some time. Hopefully they just have not announced any pregnancies yet, and we will see some calves this season, as the bulk of beluga births in captivity in the US occur in June/July/August.

Would also be great to see some dolphin births at this facility this year as well!
 
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