One of my first stops in Japan last summer was the Kyoto Aquarium. (This might surprise some people, but those who know me also know that I’m a sucker for well-kept aquariums and exotic fish.) Like many large aquariums around the world, Kyoto features an enormous “deep sea” exhibit featuring many species of fish, including sharks and rays, along with sea turtles, corals, and invertebrate life. We arrived at feeding time, and I loved snapping shots of the diver feeding the various species — none of whom seemed frightened by his presence. While I love to watch aquatic species moving around at any time,
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Why Male Seahorses Seem More Shy
Over the years, I’ve discovered that my male seahorses tend to be more shy, and more likely to hide, than the females. Or hiding under a kenya tree coral in the upper left corner of the reef, near the back of the tank:
Read moreCorals Are Smarter Than You Think.
Reefkeeping poses many challenges, chief among them the need to integrate species that live in different natural environments–sometimes thousands of miles apart–and although good reef keepers know to stock only compatable species within a single tank, sometimes even compatable fish and corals need to learn how to get along. Some corals are photosynthetic, others eat plankton, and others eat larger, meaty foods (including fish — another reason to be careful what you stock in your captive reef). Since corals lack eyes, brains, and complex nervous systems, they react to the environment immediately and without considering consequences. Some sting, while others produce
Read morePurple Leather Rescue on the Reef
About 6 weeks ago, I returned from the fish store with a coral that wasn’t supposed to survive. Toadstool leathers (Sarcophyton sp.) are soft corals of the family Alcyoniidae, and generally good corals for beginners. Although they do engage in “chemical warfare”–releasing toxins that can harm other corals (including other leathers) if placed too close together, leathers have amazing regenerative powers, and can recover from fairly serious injuries, given time and the right conditions. Despite this, the local reef store owner was having trouble persuading a heavily damaged toadstool leather to recover in his tanks. (This is highly unusual, because he farms many
Read moreHere Comes the Sun (Coral)
Many people think of corals as “plants” or “flowers;” it’s easy to do, given their brilliant colors and generally sessile nature. However, corals are animals, and while some are photosynthetic (like plants), many are carnivorous–including one of my favorites, the sun coral (Tubastrea sp.): The coral gets its name because, when open, it looks like the sun, with its mouth at the center. If you look, you can see the mouths (they look like slits when closed) on every polyp: The coral on the upper right is actually a child of that parent colony, as are these baby suns growing underneath my filter intake:
Read moreWhy Seahorses?
Most people are startled to discover that I keep seahorses. The reaction doesn’t surprise me. For most of us, seahorses inhabit a mental space somewhere between sharks and dragons–real, but almost mythological, and exotic enough that we see them in public aquariums, if at all. Even then, it’s sometimes difficult to catch a glimpse, between the crowds in front of the tank and the seahorses’ expert skills at camouflage. I’ve adored seahorses all my life, but decided to start keeping them in 2010–eighteen months after my father died. After doing “responsible things” with most of the money I inherited from him, my husband suggested
Read moreThe Value of A Second Set of Eyes**
**This post originally ran in May, 2011 (you can tell from the photos, the shots of my reef are not new). However, the message resonates as clearly today as it did back then, so I’m reloading it today: Over the weekend, my friend shot more photographs of my aquarium. She visits about once a month, and her fantastic images are the ones which appear on this blog. While shooting this time, she made an interesting comment. She said, “I like that you let me shoot and don’t just tell me what pictures to take.” An important life-lesson, and applicable to more than just
Read moreSmall Fins, Big Eyes, and Open Hearts
Captive seahorses know we’re watching. Many people seem surprised to learn that “seahorse watching” is a two-way street. My seahorses spend at least as much time observing me as I do staring in through the glass at them. Two years ago, at Christmas, I decorated a little tree and put it in my office. Every evening, my male seahorse, Cygnus, clung to the front of the tank to watch the lights. They quickly learn to recognize the camera (in my case, an iPhone) and usually peek out to investigate when it draws near. I watch them, they watch me–and I see intelligence in
Read moreLove on the Reef
Seahorses mate in mid-water, and mated pairs engage in elaborate courtship rituals involving tail-holding, “carouseling” around one another while swimming, and color-changing displays. Mated pairs also seem to enjoy spending time together, and often hitch together in a sea fan or other favorite hitching spot. The young seahorses in my tank haven’t had a chance to observe any older seahorses “dancing,” but that hasn’t stopped them from figuring the courtship rituals out on their own. Over the weekend, Vega and Moya (who ended up being male, despite his feminine-sounding name) started courtship behaviors. They spent a lot of time together, hitched in
Read moreFeathers on the Reef
I don’t normally support the capture and sale of creatures that don’t survive and thrive in captivity. That’s true of the reef, as well as everywhere else. Whenever possible, I purchase captive-bred specimens to minimize the impact on wild reefs, and I avoid bringing home any creature that won’t mix well with the existing ecosystem in my little reef. For that reason, I’ve mostly avoided feather stars–a filter-feeding crinoid from the family that also includes sea lilies. Crinoids have extremely specific, limited diets and typically starve to death in captivity. They’re beautiful, but delicate and hard to keep alive. Feather stars use
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