THE STEINHART AQUARIUM A VIEW FOR AND BY DOCENTS THE STEINHART AQUARIUM A FIELD GUIDE FOR AND BY DOCENTS ii A Docent & Guide View of the Steinhart Aquarium Species FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Steinhart Aquarium, a central part of the California Academy of Sciences since 1923, two years ago opened a complex of exhibits as innovative and exciting as the institution that houses it. With the Steinhart’s spectacular return to Golden Gate Park, docents, who everyday share their passion and insight with the public, needed access to useful information specifically about the ever-growing and changing Aquarium collection of live animals. This Field Guide along with the photo IDs of the inhabitants of multispecies tanks hopes to fill an important part of that need. This digital guide, easy to update, is well suited to track the on-going diversification of Aquarium animals. Ideally, the Field Guide will be a resource improved and updated by information and suggestions from our Academy family—curators, staff, docents, guides and other volunteers, and all who love our finny, tentacled, slithering, gliding, flying, arboreal, aquatic, terrestrial denizens—all 38,000 of them. This is a book created by volunteers for volunteers; contributors and advisors were many and appreciated! Researchers and Writers: Maureen Aggeler, Ellen Barth, Roberta Borgonovo, Susan Crocker, Susana Conde, Pat Dal Porto, Steve Doherty, Arville Finacom, Ann Hardeman, Sandy Linder, Ted Olsson, Will Meecham, Alan Pabst, Owen Raven, Mary Roberts, Maggie Scott, Alice Settle, Elizabeth Shultz. Peter Schmidt earns a special star for the original conception of a field guide and for writing well over half of the entries, even more if the first two editions are counted. Photography: Nearly all the pictures within these pages were taken by Ron DeCloux, whose skill and commitment add an important visual component to our understanding. See his complete portfolio at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/collections. Support: The Aquarium staff answered many questions almost more quickly than we could frame them, especially Tom Tucker, Bart Shepherd, Dave Chan, Nicole Chaney, Charles Delbeek, Jim Evans, Frank Glennon, Brenda Melton, Kristen Natoli, Rich Ross, Pam Schaller, Matt Wandell, Seth Wolters, Nick Yim, and others. This is actually the fourth edition of a Steinhart Guide for and by docents. Many curators and other staff members have given us help along the way. We hope their patient explanations are reflected in these pages. Any inaccuracies are due to the our interpretations, and most certainly not to the information received. Special thanks to Kathleen Lilienthal, Manager of Docent and Guide Services, for her unfailing support. The Docent Materials Group Sandy Linder, Coordinator April, 2009 Table of Contents iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ii Fish Families 5 Field Guide Introduction 15 Steinhart Aquarium Field Guide 19 ID Pictures California Coast Main Tank 229 Southern California Tank 237 Tidepool 240 Cal Coast Giants Tank 247 Philippine Coral Reef Main Tank 249 Caribbean Tank 272 Neotropical Forest 276 Amazon Flooded Forest 282 Steinhart Species List 287 Glossary 308 Index 313 Fish Families 5 Ron DeCloux FISH FAMILIES CARCHARINIDAE (REQUIEM SHARKS) 12 genera 50 species Requiem sharks are probably the largest family of living sharks with worldwide distribution in all tropical and temperate waters. Many migrate long distances and some enter brackish and freshwater. Most are small, relatively harmless species; a few are large, dangerous patrollers of coastal and open water. Better known species include the oceanic whitetip shark, sandbar shark, bull shark, blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, and tiger shark. All have five gill slits, which, like all sharks, lack a cover (operculum). Their streamlined body shape and behavior make the group the one people think of as “typical” sharks. Most are strong active swimmers and deadly hunters, well-equipped for finding and attacking prey. Like all sharks, they possess special sensing organs called ampullae of Lorenzini, gel-filled sensory pits on the snout so acute they are able to detect the electric charge produced by the nerves of another animal’s body, an incredible prey-honing system! Requiem sharks, unlike many other shark species, also have exceptionally good eyesight, comparable to human vision. Their teeth are typically serrated and bladelike with a single cusp. Sharks as a group may have from 6 to 20 rows of teeth, depending on the species. Usually only the first two rows of teeth are used for feeding. The others are replacement teeth that move forward in conveyor-belt fashion when older teeth are broken off. Sharks may replace teeth every few days, thus keeping the functional rows razor sharp. 6 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium All are viviparous except the ovoviviparous tiger shark. In this group, viviparous females have a placenta, in the form of a yolk sac, carries nourishment from the mother’s body to the young after the pups have exhausted the food supply in their eggs. How dangerous are these sharks. Statistics show about 50 shark attacks on humans occur each year, resulting in about 5 deaths. At least half these attacks are from requiem sharks, most notably the tiger, oceanic whitetip, and bull shark. As unsettling as those numbers seem, we are more likely to choke to death on a fish bone than be killed by a shark! MURAENIDAE (MORAY EELS) 15 genera 200 species Mostly marine and found worldwide in tropical and temperate seas, this diverse group is noted for large mouths with numerous sharp teeth. Most species lack pectoral and pelvic fins; the anal and dorsal fins extend along much of the body and are continuous with the caudal fin. Gill openings are small and roundish, situated on the side of the head. Often secretive during the day, morays feed mostly at night on crustaceans, cephalopods, and small fishes. Their fanglike teeth are designed to tear rather than hold or chew, and can inflict painful wounds on humans. A second set of jaws in the pharynx can be thrust forward into the mouth to grasp prey. Like all true eels, their leptocephalus larvae are distinctive and characteristic. CYPRINIDAE (CARPS, TRUE MINNOWS, AND THEIR RELATIVES) 210 genera 2,010 species The Cyprinidae, found on all continents except South America, Australia, and Antarctica, is the largest family of freshwater fishes. Best known species include the goldfish (Carassius auratus) and the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), which from the 18th century has been bred in Japan in the ornamental variety known as koi. Cyprinids as a group have a single dorsal fin, abdominal pelvic fins, a lateral line, and cycloid scales. They lack teeth in the mouth, but have 1–3 rows of pharyngeal teeth for grinding food against an opposing horny pad. All cyprinids are egg layers; most species do not guard the eggs. SYNGNATHIDAE (PIPEFISHES, SEAHORSES, AND SEADRAGONS) 52 genera 215 species Pipefishes, seahorses and seadragons are characterized by long tubular snouts and elongate bodies encased in rings of bony plates. The head of pipefishes is in line with the body axis, while the head of seadragons and seahorses is bent downward from the body’s main axis. Fin configuration depends on the group; however, all syngnathids are slow-moving species that depend on cryptic behaviors. Seahorses also possess a prehensile tail that lacks a caudal fin. Fish Families 7 All members of the family feed on minute invertebrates sucked into the long snout. Because they lack teeth and a true stomach, digestion is somewhat inefficient, and syngnathids need to feed almost continuously on their tiny prey. Reproductive habit is highly unusual in that parental care is mostly left to the male. Seahorse males possess a ventral brood pouch where eggs are fertilized and incubated after deposition by the female. Male pipefishes may have a brooding pouch or a simple patch of spongy material where eggs adhere. Seadragon males carry eggs on an adhesive brood patch under the tail. SCORPAENIDAE (SCORPIONFISHES AND ROCKFISHES) 23 genera 172 species A large family of mostly marine fishes found in all tropical and temperate seas, the scorpionfish family takes its name from the venomous spines that adorn nearly all its members. Other characteristics include a compressed body, and most have spines on the head as well as near and on the operculum. The dorsal fin, while usually single, is often notched and supported by stout spines. Spines on the dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins have venom glands at their bases that, when compressed, deliver a toxic cocktail to would-be predators or careless humans. Scorpaenidae is the largest family of fishes along the California coast, where at least 65 species, including 60 kinds of rockfishes, are known. Rockfishes possess relatively mild toxins, but should still be handled with care. Fertilization is internal. Some species lay eggs; others give live birth, including all rockfish species William Eschmeyer, Curator Emeritus of the Academy, is one of the world’s leading experts on scorpionfishes. SERRANIDAE (SEA BASSES, GROUPERS, AND BASSLETS) 62 genera 449 species Serranidae is a large family of marine fishes. They are usually found over reefs, in tropical to temperate waters. The basslets, small, colorful planktivores that in the wild feed primarily on tiny crustaceans and fish eggs floating in the upper levels of reef waters, are the common serranids found in the Philippine Coral Reef Exhibit. Like other serranids, basslets are protogynous hermaphrodites; in other words, they are born female, and a few change sex to become dominant males as breeding needs arise. They produce large quantities of eggs and their larvae are planktonic, generally at the mercy of ocean currents until they mature into adults. 8 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium APOGONIDAE (CARDINALFISHES) 22 genera 207 species Found in the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific oceans, cardinalfishes are primarily marine, though some are found in brackish waters and a few in freshwater streams.