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Oceans Features Variety of Creatures

Oceans-Dogshark2-Don ReynoldsThe Oceans  exhibit at the Indianapolis Zoo features a wide variety of animals that call the world's oceans home.  Dogsharks and cow-nosed rays are featured animals - the mostly docile dogsharks (also known as smooth dogfish) in the enormous shark touch pool in the Firestone Gallery, and the related cow-nosed rays in the large tank near the entrance.
Photo by Don Reynolds

Polar bear-AylerAmong the other featured animals on exhibit are moon jellyfish, green and purplemouth moray eels, seahorses and penguins.  Visitor favorites that were not changed during the nearly $10 million renovation that turned the old Waters Building into the new Oceans exhibit include the underwater viewing areas for several marine mammals, including polar bears, California sea lions, gray seals and harbor seals.
Photo by Tim Ayler

Throughout the exhibit in a series of special exhibit tanks and at the Oceans Connection Cove (an educational station with multiple learning opportunities), a rotating series of fish and invertebrates will delight Oceans' visitors.  Some of the likely creatures that visitors could encounter include (click on the name for a printable fact sheet on that animal-only underlined species currently have a fact sheet on file):

 Slate pencil urchin  Horseshoe crab   Chocolate chip sea star
  Orange clownfish  Cowrie  Bahama stars
  Pistol shrimp  Long tentacled anemone   True tulip snail
 Pale anemones/live rock   Cleaner shrimp  Hermit crabs
  Giant acorn barnacle   Candy stripe shrimp  Crimson anemone
  Green sea urchin   Bat sea star   Blood sea star
 Keyhole limpet  Powderblue surgeon fish  Spotted unicornfish
 Vlaming’s unicornfish  Bannerfish   Bird wrasse
  European cuttlefish   Grunt sculpin   Yellow watchman goby
 Neon goby  Copperbanded butterfly  Percula clownfish
  False bluestreak wrasse   Cleaner wrasse  Bicolor goatfish
 Christmas wrasse  Clown tang  Raccoon butterflyfish
 Longhorned cowfish  Asfur angelfish  Maculosus angelfish
 Indian threadfin  Black Triggerfish  Blue bumphead parrotfish
 Coral hogfish  Atlantic trumpetfish   Slingjaw wrasse
 Emperor snapper   Green brittle star  

To find out more about the oceans of the world,
 
click here.

And to learn about the many other
creatures that occupy the oceans,
 
click here.

 To learn about some legends of the sea,
click here.

Oceans Collection
Oceans Connections
Making a Difference
Special Thanks to Sponsors and Donors
Return to the Ocean Introduction


The Indianapolis Prize
Go Green
Special Zoo Experiences
Dare to Discover OCEANS

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