I See Sea Creatures Program

March 16, 2016

Education

Hermit crabs, sea anemones, and urchins, oh my!

During our I See Sea Creatures education program, we investigate all sorts of animals living at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. Designed to complement science and early reading goals for preschool and kindergarten students, this class is a fun way for young learners to explore our exhibits and learn about aquatic life.

Students count the arms of a sea star as it is added to the story board.

Beginning with an interactive story session, students are introduced to Eric Carle’s story A House for Hermit Crab. As the story is read, students create a visual story board to keep track of each animal the hermit crab encounters through his year long journey. We practice story sequencing, counting, and imaginative play.

After the story, students tour through the aquarium to find the living inspirations behind Carle’s characters. With the addition of our invertebrate touch pool, we get to meet many of the animals up close! Feeling the texture of a sea star, the spines of a sea urchin, and the hard cover of a snail shell, is a great way to discover the biodiversity of ocean life.

Students compare the soft cover of a sea cucumber to the rough cover of a sea star at our invertebrate touch pool.

To learn more about the I See Sea Creatures program, please visit our education page. We provide booking information, program descriptions, and even educational activities to do at home. Our teacher guides provide helpful resources for both parents and teachers; activities include math, science, music, sequencing, and make-your-own puppet printables. You can find the I See Sea Creatures guide here.

Wondering if hermit crabs really decorate their shells as Eric Carle describes in the story?

They do. Common Hermit Crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, host a variety of organisms on their shells including barnacles, protozoans, and polychaete worms. Hosting sea anemones, with stinging tentacles, adds the benefit of protection from predators. Most hermit crabs prefer shells with organisms over plain shells. Though these animals do not engage in polite conversation as they do in the book, check out the awesome video below and for more information on hermit crabs visit these resources:

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pagurus_bernhardus/

http://www.arkive.org/common-hermit-crab/pagurus-bernhardus/#text=All

Symbiotic Relationships

March 2, 2016

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Symbiotic relationships occur all around us every day. They are quite simply relationships between two different species where at least one species benefits. There are three main types of symbiotic relationships: mutualism, commensalism and parasitism. Let’s focus today on mutualism, or a relationship where both organisms benefit from each other. The Greater Cleveland Aquarium has multiple examples of this happy relationship!

Let’s start out by taking a journey into our live coral exhibit, because that happens to be the site of not one, but TWO mutualistic symbiotic relationship. Both involve (you guessed it) coral! The first one involves a very famous movie star that goes by the name of Nemo. Now most people associate the clown anemonefish with anemones, hence the name. However, in this particular exhibit, the anemonefish has a relationship with a type of coral known as Ricordea florida, which doesn’t actually have a common name. This coral protects the anemonefish with its stinging tentacles, which the anemonefish are immune to because of a protective mucous coating. In return, the anemonefish gives protection to the coral by being aggressive and fighting away other fish that might otherwise prey on the coral. Also, the coral can feed on bits of food from the anemonefish’s meal. Everyone wins.

Coral play a role in our Aquarium in multiple mutualistic symbiotic relationships. The next one we’ll look at is the connection between coral and zooxanthellae. Zooxanthellae, if you’ve never heard of them, are plant-like microscopic algae that live within the tissues of coral. The coral, once again, offer a protected home with their stinging tentacles. The zooxanthellae also receive the compounds necessary for photosynthesis from the coral, which is why coral need clear, low-turbulent waters to grow in, so the sunlight can reach them. Once photosynthesis is complete, the zooxanthellae transfer up to 90% of the products to the coral, which include oxygen and carbohydrates. The most fun and beneficial part for us humans is that the zooxanthellae provide the coral with the many different vibrant colors that are seen on coral reefs.

Our next relationship takes place in our stingray touch pool where there’s an interaction between our stingrays and the cleaner wrasse. While a stingray is resting on the bottom, a cleaner wrasse will use that opportunity to swim up and start the process. The cleaner wrasse, as its name suggests, cleans the stingray of dead skin and parasites, essentially getting an easy meal. The stingrays stay clean while the wrasse stay full! In the wild, the stingrays would also be a form of protection for the wrasse but that isn’t an issue in our friendly touch pool. Be sure to look carefully for these cleaner wrasse. Not every guest notices them.

Our last symbiotic relationship covers one that pertains to us humans directly. One of the newer exhibits at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium is the invertebrate touch pool, which is home to many different invertebrates, including cleaner shrimp. In the wild, these shrimp would receive their food by removing external parasites and old skin from eels, groupers and other fish. Here at the Aquarium though, guests can walk up and place their fingers in the water for a free mini-manicure! The cleaner shrimp hop right on your fingers and start cleaning away. Now hopefully we don’t have any external parasites, but old skin we surely have – so that makes a great meal for the shrimp.

Keeping Moon Jellies

Animal Care

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Look up and inside of the smokestack of the old powerhouse you will find a chimney full of Moon jellyfish. A lot of work and care goes into maintaining this unique exhibit. Here’s a quick look at what goes on behind the scenes of our jellyfish exhibit.

Photo: Jellyfish life cycle…Jellies have a very unique life cycle in that they reproduce through both sexual and asexual reproduction.

Culturing Jellyfish
We are happy to say that all of our jellyfish have been cultured right here at the GCA! We keep several plates of jelly polyps in flow through bins to catch and collect ephyrae. When the polyps asexually reproduce, they go through a process called strobilation. Once the ephyrae (stage 5 of the jellyfish life cycle) break off from the strobila they are pulled through to the bottom collection bin. There are several methods used to induce the strobilation process. The best way we’ve found here is through dramatic temperature swings. Dropping the temperature by 10-15 degrees for about 7-10 days has the polyps strobilating in no time! Once the strobilation process begins, we will find about 50-100 new epyrae each day. As the ephyrae slowly grow into medusa they will be moved into an appropriately sized tank and eventually make their way up to the chimney display. This process will take about 2-3 months.

Photo: Moon jelly culture set up at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Jellyfish Exhibit Design
Jellyfish are not very good swimmers and rely on ocean currents to get around. This means that the exhibit design and flow is very important when keeping jellies in aquariums. Jellyfish are typically kept in a round shaped exhibit, called a kreisel or pseudokriesel. The round shaped exhibit with a spray bar, help push the jellies in a circular motion to keep them suspended off the bottom.

Photo: Pseudokreisel built at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Jellyfish Diet
In the wild, most jellyfish eat zooplankton. Zooplankton is made of many tiny aquatic animals. Adult brine shrimp (Artemia nauplii) are most commonly used for captive diets. Unfortunately, adult brine shrimp don’t have much nutritional value for jellyfish but juvenile brine shrimp are. Our jellyfish are fed 48 hour hatched Artemia twice day that are enriched with a concentrate algae diet. They are also fed a krill shake once a week for variety. The idea of a krill shake is to blend up a mix of large, nutritious fish chucks that would normally big too large for the jellies to eat.

Photo: Artemia nauplii culture set up at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Don’t Moon Jellies Sting?
Although there are species of jellies that can have a fatal sting, the sting of a moon jelly is incredibly mild. A sting from a moon jelly usually results in an itchy, red rash and not considered a danger to humans. Here at the aquarium, we keep a spray bottle of diluted vinegar nearby to help stop and neutralize the sting.

Do you SEA the resemblance?

March 1, 2016

Species Highlights

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Do you SEA the resemblance?

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is home to quite a variety of interesting aquatic life from all different parts of the world. With a touch of so many different places here, you’re bound to run into some pretty interesting looking little guys. Let’s call this one, celebrity doppelgangers for fish.

1. Dog Face Puffer – Dog

Imagine if a dog was stuck inside a fish body because that’s basically what makes up our friend, the Dog Face Puffer. He’s a native of the Pacific and calls our Indo-Pacific gallery his humble abode. The Dog Face Puffer gets its name from its appearance, and I bet you can guess why – he looks fairly similar to a canine! Oddly enough, Puffer fish have been known to have personalities similar to dogs. However, the Dog Face Puffer doesn’t have teeth like his furry friends, but instead has a fused beak-like structure, which it uses to crush its food.

2. Raccoon Butterflyfish – Racoon

Sounds like a weird combination, right? However, the combination of the traits from these two very different animals actually creates a beautiful aquatic creature. This fish gets its name from its highly recognizable mask over its eyes, nearly identical to that of a raccoon. Its beautiful yellow coloring and shape resemble a butterfly. This remarkable combination makes for an awesome addition to the Tropical Reef of the GCA.

3. Pterois aka Lionfish – Lion

This fish is given its name due to its venomous fins that create a look similar to the mane of a lion. The Pterois is found mostly in the Indo-Pacific, and can be found there within the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. If attacked or threatened, the fish will deliver a potent venom through it’s needle-like dorsal fins. The sting from this act is extremely painful to humans, sometimes resulting in nausea or breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal.

4. Red Terror Cichlid – Tigers

He’s got the eye of the tiger, and you’re gonna hear him roar! Well, maybe more like blow bubbles, but you get the point. The Red Terror Cichlid typically sports a beautiful orange color with black stripes – similar to a wild tiger. These fish tend to be territorial a similar characteristic of tigers. It can generally be found along the banks of rivers hiding under brush. You can visit our Red Terror Cichlid in our Lakes and Rivers of the World gallery.

Be sure to look out for these amazing aquatic creatures on your next visit to the aquarium! You never know what resemblances you might see!

Microbeads: What They Are and Why We Care

February 29, 2016

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Every piece of plastic ever made still exists.

Plastic products are everywhere. Pens, shoes, food packaging, toys, straws, water bottles, and shopping bags are all made of plastic; plastic is all around us. But, did you know there may be plastic in your toothpaste?

Many common household products, including toothpaste, soap, body wash, and makeup contain tiny pieces of plastic called microbeads. Marketed as an exfoliate, these microbeads have replaced natural, biodegradable exfoliates like nutshells and salt crystals in hundreds of personal products on the market.

Pictured above: Plastic microbeads from household products. Microbeads can be less than 1mm across. Credit: Alliance for the Great Lakes Website (http://www.greatlakes.org/microbeads).

The problem? These microbeads are so small, that our wastewater treatment systems are unable to filter and remove them. And, because these microbeads are made of plastic, they never biodegrade. Over time, these beads continue to accumulate in our world’s waterways; the ocean and the great lakes are currently full of them.

The problem continues as toxins like PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)can bind to these tiny beads, creating a “toxic soup.” Marine organisms cannot distinguish between microbeads and plankton so these microbeads can be ingested. Check out this video of zooplankton ingesting plastic!

Further studies hope to identify whether these microbeads can be traced up through the food chain, or if the plastic is excreted along the way. Remember, humans are at the top of most ocean food chains.

It is virtually impossible to remove these microbeads from the waterways without also removing beneficial marine life. Our only solution is to stop adding microbeads to the system in the first place. Every person has the choice whether or not to buy products containing microbeads. Check the labels of your products, or check out this database to discover if the products you use contain plastic. Search for polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, and nylon. Each of these ingredients is a fancy name for plastic.

Check the labels of your products to see if they contain microbeads. Image credit: news.vice.com

The good news is that several states, (IL, ME, NJ, CO, IN, MD, WI, and CA), have already passed legislation to ban the sale of products containing microbeads. Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, Target, and Crest have all have pledged to phase out microbeads from their manufactured products. In December 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was approved by the US House and the US Senate. Microbeads will be phased out of products country-wide starting in 2018, but it’s never too early to start at home today.

Here at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, we hope to help “ban the bead” by spreading the word through education. During our October Homeschool Wednesday, students observed microbeads by straining soap and toothpaste through coffee filters. You can try the lab at home!

If we all do our part, we can stop microbeads from entering our global waterways. The choice is ours.

For more information check out these awesome resources:
http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/
www.plasticaware.org