Following up on my last post, I wanted to introduce Toby, our smallest trunkfish, who is a very curious little fellow. Toby was very nervous during his first couple weeks in the big Giant Ocean Tank, but is settling in nicely and has gotten comfortable with the mammals in the tank: the divers!
— Chris
Giant Ocean Tank Divers Blog
Showing posts with label trunkfish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trunkfish. Show all posts
11/19/15
11/14/15
Meet the Boxfishes
Our annual census is right around the corner, so I thought some fish ID would be fun. In this post I want to introduce our boxfishes (family Ostraciidae) which includes 4 species in the Giant Ocean Tank. These guys are unique because of their bony box of armour - you may also see one of these species in the "armoured tank" in the Tropical Gallery on the 1st floor.
In our GOT, our boxfishes get their own special feeding station which helps them eat without competition from some of our more aggressive species. More on that station in a later post.
The boxfishes are divided up into 2 groups: cowfishes, which have a spine over each eye; and trunkfishes, which lack these spines.
And here's a pic of some of them harassing a diver for some food!
-Chris
We posted about boxfish feedings a while back, and it's adorable. Here's a peek at the feeding, more video soon!
In our GOT, our boxfishes get their own special feeding station which helps them eat without competition from some of our more aggressive species. More on that station in a later post.
The boxfishes are divided up into 2 groups: cowfishes, which have a spine over each eye; and trunkfishes, which lack these spines.
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| Lactophrys trigonus, (common) trunkfish |
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| Lactophrys triqueter, smooth trunkfish |
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| Acanthostracion polygonia, honeycomb cowfish |
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| Acanthostracion quadricornis, scrawled cowfish |
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| Can you spot the boxfishes? |
-Chris
We posted about boxfish feedings a while back, and it's adorable. Here's a peek at the feeding, more video soon!
11/3/10
Fall Collecting Trip #9: Yee-haargh!
We got up bright and early again today for a grunt roundup! Basically, we find a large school of grunts and five of us surround it and move in slowly. The grunts form a tighter and tighter ball until suddenly they explode outward – and hopefully our nets are there to catch some of them. We usually end up with one or two people having one or two grunts in their nets – on one especially successful swipe I ended up with SIX grunts in my bag. In an amazing show of team spirit, everyone gathered around me kneeling on the sandy bottom to help hold open collection bags, and even stabilize me when the surge picked up.
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| A school of grunts |
Later, a group of participants headed to a rocky outcropping to collect terrestrial hermit crabs for Randi, a scientist at the Aquarium working with hermit crab shell selection. There are about a hundred of them and they are easy keeps – just a little cap full of water and a dollop of peanut butter!
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| Hey, what's in the bucket? |
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| Terrestrial hermit crabs |
I did another invertebrate dive later in the day, but as I was in search of small crawly things I spotted a barred hamlet – one of the fish that is high on our wish list. I did not have any nets, just my poker stick (for getting into small holes) which I used to bang on my tank to hopefully get someone’s attention. Divers started turning towards me seamlessly in all directions taking their positions. I pointed at the hamlet – I swear you could almost hear the Ride of the Valkyries as divers and nets came together like a well choreographed dance.
Jim Duffey and Dave Wedge move in
What teamwork!
I was struck with just how well we all work as a team. It is really a testament to the character of the staff and participants on this trip – everyone is so friendly and willing to work together, there is not a feeling of competition but of camaraderie. When the barrel comes up with our catch from the dive, everyone gathers around like kids on Christmas waiting to see what we got. No fish or invertebrate is too small for commendation.
Speaking of size – we see cool critters of all shapes and sizes on these dives. This last one we saw a giant barracuda on the way back to the boat, and I spotted a pea-sized juvenile trunkfish hiding in his hole! He’s the little yellow blorp with brown spots.
Dave and a Barracuda
A tiny juvenile trunkfish in its hole
Tomorrow is the last day of collecting – I can't believe it, the trip has flown by!
-- Emily
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