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Category: Species Highlights

See Us Feed Lionfish and more @CLEAquarium

July 17, 2020
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Aquarist Laura B. dishes on the appetites of lionfish, a dog-faced puffer and yellow blotch rabbitfish. #natureiscurious

Hi everybody! I’m Laura. I’m an aquarist here at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. I’m one of the essential animal care staff and today we’re going to be feeding the lionfish exhibit.

So the lionfish that you’re seeing here are indiscriminate feeders so what that means is that they will eat anything that they can fit in their mouths. That makes them especially large of a problem because they are invasive and they do take over natural habitats by destroying everything that they come across because they will just eat it.

The pufferfish that you’re seeing here… he’s got those big front teeth that he can use to crush shells, so I’ll be feeding him a muscle. It is too big for the lionfish to eat. They’ll try but he’ll go down there to the the bottom and get it.

So the rabbitfish that you’re seeing here…he is an omnivore. He will eat plants and meat as well. So here we’ll be eating an herb gel today. It’s a type of mixture that we make with plants and proteins that we just mix up. It’s one of his favorites. It’s good for him to get a mixture of both so it gives him that well-balanced diet. He will also be getting a leaf of lettuce that he can kind of graze through. In the wild he would be grazing algae off of the structures that he comes across or off the reefs.

Where to find @CLEAquarium: Industry & Habitat Gallery

Author: Laura B.

5 Things I Learned about Poison Dart Frogs

March 5, 2020
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Poison dart frogs prove that old adage—big things come in small packages . . . some of these 1 to 2-inch wonders are among the most toxic animals on the planet.

Humans have actually benefited from poison dart frogs’ toxins—whether it was the indigenous people of western Colombia coating the tips of blow darts with their poison or the scientists currently working to create pharmaceuticals based on their secretions. You can see “azureus” blue, green & black and “Patricia” dyeing dart frogs up close in the Tropical Forest Gallery at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

– Sam Fryberger

5 Things I Learned about Garden Eels

February 11, 2020
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At first glance, garden eels can be mistaken for plants but a closer look reveals slim little fish with big eyes. 


Nature. It’s a curious thing. You can see yellow garden eels the next time you visit the Coastal Boardwalk Gallery at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

– Samantha Fryberger

5 Things I Learned: Surinam Toad

January 17, 2020
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With a triangular head, flattened appearance, bumpy skin and tiny lidless black eyes, the Surinam toad is one odd-looking amphibian. Their earthy-colored, mottled, leaf-like appearance allows them to blend into the rocks and plant debris at the bottoms of muddy, slow-moving waterways of South America.

The Surinam toad can stay underwater for more than an hour and is actually considered an aquatic frog. Its rough skin earned it the “toad” name. See these unique animals up-close at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. Nature. It’s a curious thing.

-Samantha Fryberger

A Spin on the Laundromat: Moon Jellyfish

September 28, 2019
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You may wonder as you walk through the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s Coastal Boardwalk Gallery why there is a giant washing machine. As you get closer, you will see what is gently swirling in the fanciful exhibit—moon jellyfish. The decision to showcase these animals in such a way came from Director of Artistic Production and Operations, Bruce Orendorf.

Bruce had a few ideas about how to fit the new exhibit in with the gallery’s deliberately kitschy boardwalk theme. The jellyfish exhibit uses a circular kreisel tank that causes the water to flow in a circular motion and enables the animals to rise and fall, but moves slow enough so that they are allowed to move freely as well. In thinking about the exhibit’s relationship to a boardwalk Bruce thought, “Cotton candy machine?”, but ruled that out as that kind of machine operates horizontally, not vertically. Then he thought, “You know what that looks like? A washing machine.”

The moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), which gets its name from four internal gonads that have a moon shape, cannot swim, so their movement in the water relies on currents. They use currents to move through the water to find their prey, which consist of zooplankton, fish eggs, larval crabs and shrimp. Here at the Aquarium, their diet consists of artemia nauplii, a form of brine shrimp.

“I want people to find them as interesting as I do,” said Aquarist Bethany Hickey, who is in charge of the exhibit, and who has a particular interest in invertebrates. Hickey says that ensuring that the temperature, as well as the water currents, mirror that of the environment these animals live in, is crucial to their survival. “They are very susceptible to any environmental changes, and that necessary stability is somewhat challenging to maintain in the exhibit,” she said.

After landing on a name, Bruce built the façade in-house and had signs made that were similar to what you would see in a real laundromat, but would also work within the Coastal Boardwalk theme.

Now you know some of the thought and planning that goes into creating a new exhibit. Next time you visit, check out the jellyfish in the Blue Moon Laundromat.

– Neda Spears

Species Highlight: Poison Dart Frog

August 26, 2019
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Poison dart frogs got their moniker from indigenous Central and South Americans using the toxins the animals secrete through their skin on hunting arrows. We talked to aquarist Connor Craig to learn more about some of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s newest (and deadliest) residents.

Poison dart frogs can be found in nature in the humid rainforests of Central and South America. Their vivid coloring is a form of protection from would-be predators. “A poison dart frog’s bright color advertises the fact that it’s poisonous, so they don’t get eaten,” says Craig adding that although darts frog come in a variety of hues, their color doesn’t correlate to how poisonous they are.

Their deadly poison comes from the frog’s diet of different small insects like ants, small flies and beetles. In the Aquarium, the poison dart frogs eat fruit flies, pinhead crickets and a vitamin supplement to ensure proper nutrition. “The controlled diet doesn’t allow for the development of the poison for which these animals are known,” says Craig.

The only natural predator of the poison dart frog is the fire-bellied snake (Leimadophis epinephelus), which has developed a resistance to the frog’s poison. However, the biggest problems facing poison dart frogs are related to human activity. “One of the first signs that something is wrong in an ecosystem is if indicator species, such as amphibians, start to decline,” Craig says. “Many species of amphibians are threatened from human activities like deforestation, the pet trade and deteriorating water quality.”

While deadly, imagine if their poison could be used to make someone feel better. Scientists are using the toxins blue poison dart frogs secrete to study how nerves conduct electricity to help them create new human painkillers.

Get an up-close look at green and black, Patricia dyeing and ‘Azureus’ blue dart frogs on your next visit to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. Nature. It’s a curious thing.

– Hannah

5 Things I Learned: Cleaner Shrimp

August 20, 2019
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Take a stroll down our Coastal Boardwalk Gallery and you’ll find all sorts of creatures. One of the most interesting that you’ll find in our invertebrate Touch Pool is the decapod crustacean, commonly known as a cleaner shrimp. These shrimp exhibit a cleaning symbiotic relationship with the fish they rid of parasites. Here are 5 facts that I have learned about cleaner shrimp.

You can come see a cleaner shrimp up close and even get a “mini-manicure” when they clean the dead skin from your fingers at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium’s Invertebrate Touch Pool. Nature. It’s a curious thing.

– Payton Burkhammer, Intern

5 Things I Learned: Weedy Seadragon

August 7, 2019
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Is that seaweed or a weedy seadragon? Seaweed-like appendages camouflage the weedy seadragon, helping it blend in to its costal Australian habitat. Want to know more? Here are 5 things I learned, but beware, their laidback surfer vibe is relaxing enough to put you to sleep:

Weedy seadragons are a Near Threatened species found along the southern coastline of Australia. You can see weedy seadragons and learn more about conservation during your next visit to the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. Nature. It’s a curious thing.

– Hannah Moskowitz, Intern

5 Things I Learned: Anableps

July 24, 2019
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Quickly swimming at the surface, Anableps anableps can be difficult to spot despite the fact that they swim in schools. Let’s get a closer look at these unique fish.

Nature. It’s a curious thing.

– Megan Brown, Intern