Aquarium Life Through the Eyes of an Aquarist

I'm Lori. I've been working as an aquarist for about 12 years. BS in Marine Biology from UNCW. Masters in Zoo and Aquarium Leadership from GMU. I have a fun job and am happy to share. Questions? Please ask. :)

[exotic-aquatics]

My little one is getting so big! He was flashing colors at me today, flexing those sweet chromatophores far more than usual! I think he might have been letting me know that he was hungry. Hehe.

[exotic-aquatics]

Update from my last post! It’s been tough trying to find the little octopus babies, but I managed to find one on the hunt! I had just added some shrimp, and this one made an appearance to snatch one up at lightning speed. I’m so proud! They’re getting bigger by the day, it seems! Fear not, they’re doing well!

[exotic-aquatics]

I’m a proud mama! Or rather, the octopus I’ve been taking care of is a proud mama. She has done a beautiful job taking care of her eggs and now it’s on me to make sure these little guys live well. Cutest challenge ever! They have chromatophores (pigment cells) that begin to fire immediately upon hatching, which is why they suddenly look brown as they emerge instead of the pale white like their sleepy brothers and sisters still in the eggs. It’s been fascinating to watch it all happen!

[exotic-aquatics]

The Egyptian cobra says hello! This one is a big fan of napping, but in the morning he'll quite often greet the staff with a bit of attitude!

[exotic-aquatics]

Spotted eagle rays have a very sensitive "nose" (aka rostrum) which they use to root around in substrates to find interesting food items. They, like me, love some bivalves and crustaceans!

[exotic-aquatics]

Look at that face! Say hello to our resident zebra shark! If you look closely, you can see her fascinating little teeth. They aren't sharp like your more "stereotypical" shark teeth, but are excellent for ingesting whatever interesting food items she might come across in the substrate.

[exotic-aquatics]

Snails are an excellent and efficient clean-up crew in a healthy coral system. Look at him go!

[exotic-aquatics]

Reach for the stars, little buddy! Check out those tube feet in action! Sea stars are neat.

[exotic-aquatics]

I forget sometimes that your average person doesn't always get to enjoy the creepy nighttime lighting of aquariums. Watching sharks looming from the distant dark expanse is just cool!

[exotic-aquatics]

Chain dogfish are members of the shark family that lay these awesome egg cases. If you ever wondered what they look like at various stages of development, then enjoy! One of the recently hatched pups swings in to check on the action, too. They were quite active and wiggly this morning!

[exotic-aquatics]

If you ever wondered what the underside of a sea star looks like, here you go! Don't forget to admire its many magnificent tube feet which help it move across almost any surface or substrate.

[exotic-aquatics]

Lionfish are invasive on the US Atlantic coast and the Caribbean. They out-compete local predatory fish, but I definitely can’t deny that they are beautiful! Just stay away from those venomous fin rays!

[exotic-aquatics]

One of the coolest things about diving with sharks and rays is the potential to find awesome teeth! Here I've picked up some pointy bits from sand tiger sharks and the flat, plate-like ones are from spotted eagle rays. Okay so it might not be the coolest thing about diving with these guys, but it ranks up there somewhere.

[exotic-aquatics]

The octopus is feisty this morning! Not long after this video was taken, it attempted to pull me into the tank. No, thank you, but I appreciate your very firm handshake!