2013

The Maritime
Aquarium
Beta 1.0

Superstorm Sandy Oct. 2012

Reference Manual The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is an aquarium,
Welcome maritime museum and education, research and
technology center which expands knowledge,
encourages and excites curiosity, understanding and the
Beta 1.0 appreciation of science, the interrelationship of natural
and cultural events, and global ecology as they relate to
Long Island Sound. (fmr. mission statement)

It may seem unlikely to see the Atlantic Ocean as the cover photo for a Volunteers guidebook to the
Maritime Aquarium. What you’ll soon discover is our backyard playground, Long Island Sound, is a hub
with many spokes. A few of our visitors are permanent residents, but far more of our visitors are
temporary, staying as long as conditions are just right. Conditions that change with the seasons, with the
climate and with the impact of man.

This manual is necessarily brief. Far more is available in both the popular press as well as the scientific
community. We hope you use this as a hub with links to the pockets of knowledge that interest you.

Developed for use on an iPad, the full functionality requires the use of Apple products. A good alternative
80% of the functionality) is available in PDF. Both are available in the Volunteer DropBox account.

A few tips on navigation within the iBook. If you click on a link to either a Youtube video or a web
document you will leave the iBook app. No problem - just return to the home page on your iPad and re-
select the iBook app. You’ll return to where you left off! If you find a broken link, notify us and we’ll fix it in
the next version.

i
Chapter 1
!

The
Volunteers’
Role
Volunteers at the Maritime Aquarium play a vital role
and contribute significantly to The Maritime
Aquarium’s success. Assignments are varied and
range from administrative and other behind-the-
scenes responsibilities to front line jobs in the
aquarium and throughout building areas. This
section will deal with the role of the volunteer gallery
guide in the aquarium where the majority of our
volunteers are assigned.
Section 1

The Gallery Guide

Responsibilities of a Gallery Guide When you don’t know the answer to a question asked by a visitor, don’t be afraid to say
you don’t know. Some volunteers keep postcards in their pockets and ask the visitor’s
name and address, along with the question, and then send the answer at a later date after
Gallery Guides are the primary interface with TMA visitors. Gallery Guides are assigned
asking a staff member or another volunteer for assistance. It is better to admit you don’t
by The Volunteer & Community Services Department to various locations in the aquarium,
know the answer than to give false or misleading information. Perhaps you’ll have to
such as the seal pool, the touch tank, and the open ocean tank (shark tank). Gallery
research the answer for yourself and then share that information.
Guides help fulfill the mission of The Maritime Aquarium by answering visitors’ questions,
helping them plan their visits, and providing educational information. As a result, school
At the end of your shift, remember to provide feedback to the Volunteer Office. Be sure to
groups, families and other visitors learn more about Long Island Sound, its marine life and
point out visitor comments, questions, complaints, and recommendations. There is a
are encouraged to consider environmental issues affecting Long Island Sound. In effect,
suggestion box in the volunteer office to leave comments.
Gallery Guides are the eyes and ears of the aquarium, giving and receiving information
which, hopefully, will satisfy the individual visitor’s needs and will motivate them to return Expand your knowledge of the Maritime Aquarium:
for future visits, In addition, the volunteers complement the activities of The Aquarium’s
• Attend monthly volunteer meetings.
staff members, primarily in education, aquarium, and security departments. As Gallery
Guides, volunteers should continue learning about marine biology to enhance their role. • Read notices on the board in the Volunteer Office.
• Read the various publications of The Maritime Aquarium: The Maritimes, the
A Gallery Guide’s Role is active rather than passive newsletter sent to all members of the aquarium, and Tellin, the monthly newsletter for
all volunteers. Both contain lots of valuable information that will help to broaden your
knowledge.
It is critical for gallery guides to perform their roles actively rather than passively. Guides
are expected to initiate conversations with visitors, asking questions and encouraging a
dialogue. Questions should be stimulating. Encourage visitor observation, particularly
the young. Through questions, try to develop a spirit of scientific inquiry.

• “How many do you see?”

• “Are there any differences?”
• “Is that a plant or an animal?”
• “Is the outside rough or smooth?”
• “What do you think is happening?”

3
Section 2
Volunteer Responsibilities
I. Information Desk
Greet visitors and welcome them to the aquarium. Answer any of their questions and ask
if they need help in planning their visit. Encourage visitors to head toward the ray pool and
Go Fish sections first. They can then work their way upstairs, using either stairs or
elevators, and enter the aquarium wing (Hokin Family Sound Voyage) by the Salt Marsh
and finish down by the sea turtle tank.
II. Seal Pool
Staffing of this exhibit is required by Federal Law (The Marine Mammal Protection Act –
1972), so NEVER LEAVE THIS STATION UNATTENDED. Make sure that the harbor
seals are not disturbed by visitors either on the inside or outside. Remove any foreign
objects thrown or dropped into the pool as necessary (there is a skimmer net located on
the wall by the door leading outside). Instruct visitors that no hands (or babies) should be
beyond the railing of the pool. Be at the gate to assist the aquarist at feeding times and
remain at the gate throughout the feeding. Provide visitors with information regarding
seals. Seal feeding shows occur three times daily, at 11:45, 1:45, and 3:45.
III. Salt Marsh
This area is not usually staffed by the volunteers. Exhibits in this gallery include
diamondback terrapins, seahorses, fiddler crabs and oysters.
IV. Rivers to the Sound
Creature Encounter - This counter is staffed by the Education Department on weekends
and on days when visitor turnout is expected to be high. It teaches the public about ways
to help keep Long Island Sound clean. It also offers an opportunity to touch a live
diamondback terrapin.
Otters - This exhibit is normally not staffed by volunteers. Information about feeding/
enrichment times is available for visitors at the entry link and at the information desk.
V. Depths of the Sound & Touch Tank
The volunteer(s) at the Touch Tank station is responsible for showing animals to visitors,
providing information about them, and assuring that the animals are not overly stressed in
the process. The handling and presentation of the animals is to be controlled by the
volunteer. Animals can be touched by the visitors with fingertips, but are only to be held by
the volunteers to ensure both the safety of the visitors and also the animals. Only the
volunteer’s hands are to be in the tank.
Animal Handling/Touch Tank Procedures
Please keep in mind that we are in the business of educating people, not in the
business of endangering the welfare of our collection. To keep our animals healthy,
they should remain in water and under our control.
Animals should always be in water. We now have clear containers that float and allow
water to circulate through them. These floating containers make it easy for our visitors to
touch the animals while they remain in a stable environment--in the water. The largest
container does accommodate a medium size horseshoe crab—which makes it safer &
easier to exhibit them. Every effort is being made to have medium to small horseshoe
crabs available in the Touch Tank. The three minute rule applies to crabs and horseshoe
crabs when showing their undersides to the public. Do not exhibit the animal out of water
more than three minutes when showing the belly anatomy…please!
Animals in water filled containers can be taken out of the tank for closer viewing/
touching by our visitors –but should not be kept out of the tank for more than three
minutes. We are allowed to take the animals out of the tank for visitor viewing as long as
the animal is in a container with water. Minimize the amount of time the “containerized”
animals spends out of the tank. DO NOT keep an animal out of the tank for more than
three minutes. The water heats up very quickly when taken out of the main tank and the
animals can suffer. Remember these animals need fresh water to get oxygen. Animals
4
held in containers should be rotated at least twice each day—more frequently during high
visitation. Keeping the floating containers in the tank allows the water to circulate and the
proper temperature is maintained. Both of these are essential to the health and well being
of the animals in the Touch Tank. Some animals such as moon snails are very vulnerable
when removed from the main tank. Slime from a moon snail means that the animal is
stressed and it should be immediately returned to the tank!
Animals should be handled by the volunteer staff ONLY. Visitors are encouraged to
touch the animals—but are not allowed to pick the animals up or hold them. Volunteer
staff is trained to properly handle the animals so both our visitors and are animals are
protected.
Keep the animals in the water while you are talking about them. Speak first --show
second! Animals are to be taken out of the water as little as possible so make your
presentation first and then present the animal.
Check the Touch Tank animal inventory and mortality log on the clip board for
current information. The aquarium department does a complete inventory every two
weeks; a copy of the inventory is kept in the lidded compartment on the right side of the
exhibit and in the volunteer lounge. If you cannot find some animals that are listed on the
inventory as available, please let Lisa know. Put dead animals in the small plastic bags
provided and dispose of them in the public trash container. Remember to record the
information on the mortality log.
Keep the Touch Tank exhibit area presentable. If containers are not in use, please keep
them contained in the large bin provided and stored under the left rear side of the tank.
Two sets of steps are kept under the two left touch tank bays; waterproof aprons are
available for your comfort. Until further notice, please bring the aprons along with the
bucket, to the office. Hang the aprons up on the coat rack to dry off.
All sea stars & horseshoe crabs are kept in the left bay of the tank overnight to
avoid predation among tank residents.
There are separate instructions for use of the lavaliere microphone & location of the
telephone for emergency contact while at the Touch Tank.
VI. Ocean Beyond The Sound (Open Ocean) – Shark Tank
This area allows volunteers to provide information to individuals and groups on the animals
in the tank. Seating is ideal to gather groups for mini-presentations. A microphone is
available for volunteers or staff who wish to use for a presentation. A shark jaw and
sharkskin are available in the volunteer office.
Dive Program – On select days, the Education Department may have certified divers go in
to the shark tank and talk to / answer questions with the public about the animals. There
will usually be another member of the “Dive Team” on the floor to aid with the presentation.
VII. Turtles / Jellies
This area allows volunteers to provide information to the public about the animals in the
tank. There is a real turtle carapace in the volunteer office that the volunteer may use as a
teaching aid.
VIII. Ray / Shark Touch Pool
Provide visitors with a close-up view of live cartilaginous fishes. Encourage everyone to
get their hands wet. Monitor visitors as they touch the animals and assist, if helpful, with
further instructions. Discourage any inappropriate activity
• Inform the visitors about the animals in the tank and cartilaginous fish in general.
• Report any abnormal incidents to the aquarium, security, and volunteer offices.
A microphone is available for use in communicating with our visitors during high
attendance days. If a feeding occurs during your shift, please inform the visitors that
touching the animals will be suspended during the feeding. General instructions for
touching the animals;
• Touch with two fingers, fingertips only
• Let them swim about freely
• Only touch on their backs
• Please do not touch the underside of the ray or the tail
• Do not grab, poke, rub, or manhandle the rays in any way, they may react by biting
5
Section 3

Questioning Strategies

Strategies 2. ”Process” Questions

Questions are a very valuable interpretative tool. They can be used for a variety of
Process questions ask the visitor to draw some relationships among the information
purposes to:
recalled by comparing, inferring and explaining. Thinking by the visitor involves
• Give directions: “Will you all please follow?”
analyzing, comparing, making analogies, classifying, distinguishing, experimenting,
• Control behavior: “What are you doing there?”
explaining, grouping, inferring, organizing, sequencing, etc., such as:
• Find out about visitors: “Are you from the Norwalk area?”
• See if the audience is with you: “Can you hear me in the back?”
• “How do you think the sea star moves around?”
• Help visitors derive meaning from the exhibits.
• “Where does the thread attaching the mussel to the rock come from?”
Questions involving visitors cause them both to think about and thereby better understand • “Why does a shark need six rows of teeth?”
the exhibits. Your skill at asking questions will have a great effect on the meaning a visitor • “What advantages might schooling fishes have compared to solitary ones?”
derives from an exhibit.

There are three major types of questions which will appeal to the visitors’ intellects and
involve them in thinking.
1. “Recall” Questions
Recall questions ask visitors to recall something that was learned in the past or to identify
and describe something that can be directly observed. Thinking by the visitor involves
completing, counting, describing, naming, identifying, listing, matching, observing,
3. ”Application” Questions
Application questions cause visitors to go beyond the information or concepts they’ve
developed and to use it in new or hypothetical situation. Thinking by the visitor involves
applying a principal, evaluating, extrapolating, finding examples, predicting, generalizing,
hypothesizing, imagining, inventing, etc., such as:
• “What do you think it would be like to be a seal in our seal pool?”

recalling and selecting, such as: • “What animals do you think are predators of the sea star?”

• “How many seals are in the pool?” • Why does the mussel need to attach itself with such a strong thread?”

• “Is the sea star rough or smooth?” • “Why do you think the flounder has the type of body that it has?”
• “What are those fish doing?”
Pose Questions with Care
• “How is the mussel attached to the rock?”
• “What are the flounder doing in the tank?” If too many questions are asked or if the questions are confusing or not really questions,
• “How many rows of teeth are in the shark’s mouth?” visitors will respond inappropriately or stop responding altogether.

6
Section 4

Health Emergencies

Phones Incident Reports

In case of emergency, dial “0” for operator from the closest phone.
At Seals and Open Ocean, this is on the wall in the lobby behind the Information
Desk. At the Touch Tank, there is a phone in the electrical closet. The door to the
electrical closet is to the left of the Touch Tank. The key to this closet is located
under the lid, on a cup hook, in the right side cubby of the Touch Tank. At the Ray /
Shark Touch Pool, there is a phone in the cabinet.
Personal Injuries
It is the policy of the Maritime Aquarium to provide bandages for visitors or staff who may
require them. For injuries requiring more than a bandage, the security officer should be
contacted. He or she will then contact the Duty Officer or Dave Truedson to determine if
Emergency Services (911) should be considered. If it is an obvious emergency, the
security officer or staff member should not delay in making a call to 911.
Incident reports must be filled out for all injuries requiring more than a bandaid, or in the
case where a security guard is called to investigate a situation where a person has been
involved in an accident while on the premises. The security guard is responsible for
handling this report.
Wheelchairs
Wheelchairs are kept in care of Visitor Services in the hallway outside of their office. If
you need the wheelchairs for any reason, please contact the Visitor Services Manager.
The wheelchair should not be left unattended in a public area. Please return it to the
Visitor Services Manager.

First Aid Supplies

There are first aid kits located in the First Aid room near the front usher, IMAX ticket
booth, the snack bar kitchen (CulinArt), the receptionist’s desk, the aquarium mechanical
room and the aquarium food prep area. Please notify security if you are low on supplies.

The security officer handles the distribution of all first aid supplies. There are ice packs
available, in addition to various types and sizes of bandaids as well as a general
antiseptic. These are kept in storage in the First Aid room.

7
Section 5

Lost Visitors

Lost Children or Parents

In the case of visitors who are separated from their party, adults or children, they should
be brought to the main desk. If the lost person is a CHILD please walk them personally to
the front desk. Keep the child in a secure place and do not leave the child alone. If you
must leave, contact the security guard and have the guard remain with the child until
claimed. Squat down to the child’s eye level and try to get as much information as
possible. If you are able to get the name of the parent or adult, call the operator and have
them make an announcement asking that person to go to the main entrance. If the child
is unable to provide any information, make an announcement that there is a lost child.
For the protection of the child, do not announce any descriptions. If after a period of time
has elapsed and the child has not been claimed, Security will contact the Norwalk Police
Department.

DO NOT LEAVE THE CHILD UNATTENDED!

For your information, below is the policy that paid staff are instructed to follow:

In the case of an ADULT who is lost or who has lost a child, immediately announce over
the radio that you have a “Code Adam”. Keep in mind that an adult separated from a
child or their group is often more hysterical than the child. Get a name and description
(such as, gender, age, identifying features, color of clothing) of the lost individual and
where the child was last seen. Notify security and any others on the radio of a “Code
Adam” and a description of the child. This will alert Visitor Services to stop anyone from
leaving until the child is found and this will begin a search by any employee or volunteer
available carrying a radio. Do NOT announce over the PA system that we are looking for a
lost child. Always assist in looking for the missing person. If the child is not located in a
timely manner call 911 for assistance.

8
Section 6

Recruiting
The Maritime Aquarium has a volunteer force of over 250 active gallery guides and other
specialists. If you know of anyone who would be interested in being a volunteer please
send them the link to the following slide show. https://www.dropbox.com/s/
1bc4vk4izmtar4n/Gallery%20Guide%20Program.pdf

Interactive 1.1 Slide show for potential recruits

Our best advocates are our current volunteers. If you meet someone
with that special spark, ask them to join us!

9
Chapter 2

The Maritime
Aquarium At
Norwalk
Since 1867 the bricks and mortar of the The
Maritime Aquarium have contributed to the
economy and industrial rise of New England while
hosting a number of businesses. None more
important than it’s current role as an education
ambassador.
Section 1

Volunteer Information
The Importance of Volunteers at The Maritime
Aquarium
Maritime Aquarium volunteers provide an expansive and invaluable service to the
Aquarium. While the position is unpaid, the responsibilities entrusted to volunteers are
vital to the operation of the facility. The Aquarium relies on volunteers to interpret and
protect its marine and maritime collections while enhancing visitors’ experiences. This
group of talented and dedicated individuals functions in a critical role as an extension of
the paid staff. Volunteers contribute over 26,000 hours a year to ensure our visitors have
an experience that is both entertaining and educational. This time represents an annual
“volunteer donation” of nearly four hundred thousand dollars.
Gallery Guides
Gallery Guides are needed 363 days a year (The Aquarium is closed Thanksgiving and
Christmas days) to help visitors appreciate and learn more about Long Island Sound’s
rich maritime history and marine life. They are The Aquarium's primary interface with our
visitors.
Gallery Guides perform the following:
• Staff locations in the Aquarium, such as the Seal Pool, the Touch Tank, the Touch Pool,
and our Special Exhibitions, where they present educational information to our visitors.

Peter James, a well-known museum consultant, who conducted the MAP Survey of the • Help school groups, families and other visitors learn more about Long Island Sound
(LIS) and its marine life.
Aquarium in June 1992, said: “The work of volunteers is particularly impressive. They
contribute approximately 20% of the full-time equivalent of paid staff, almost double the
• Assist visitors through the Aquarium galleries.
best I had ever encountered, and they all receive above-average training.”

• Assist the Aquarium's staff in assuring the safety of the Aquarium animals and our
Volunteer Opportunities visitors.
Volunteering at The Maritime Aquarium offers a level of involvement beyond that of the
casual visitor. The Aquarium has volunteer programs for everyone—young and old, night • Complement the activities of the Aquarium staff, and provide assistance where
people and day people. Those who work during the week can participate in evening and necessary.
weekend programs. As a volunteer, you are a member of The Maritime Aquarium family
Assistants
and learn more about the maritime history of Long Island Sound and its unique and
wonderful marine life. Volunteer activities enable you to participate in, and support, the
The special skills of Assistants are used to enhance the mission of The Maritime
Aquarium's education and research programs while meeting and sharing time with people
Aquarium. Assistants roles include: office work, disseminating membership and program
who have similar interests. Volunteers’ assignments are varied and range from
information, restoring historic vessels, and building exhibits.
administrative and other behind-the-scenes responsibilities, to front-line jobs throughout
the aquarium and other areas visited by the public.

11
Requirements Volunteer Insurance
Training As a volunteer your personal insurance is your primary coverage while at the aquarium.
The aquarium provides secondary coverage, or primary if you do not carry personal
All volunteers are expected to successfully complete The Maritime Aquarium’s Volunteer insurance. This insures you are completely covered while at the aquarium performing your
Training Program. Attendance and participation in this program is mandatory for the duties.
integrity and success of The Aquarium’s Volunteer program. The Training Program is
scheduled three times each year. There are nine to ten classes scheduled on Tuesdays
and Thursdays over a five week period. In the early summer of each year, an abbreviated
training course is offered over two to three afternoons. Volunteers are strongly
encouraged to participate in the full training course in the fall. This classroom activity is
followed by a period involving on-station training. During this on-station training an
individual rotates between the key Gallery Guide stations. Upon completion of the Training
Program a specific time commitment is established. After completion of a six month
probationary period, free “individual plus one” memberships are awarded. “Individual plus
one” memberships are issued annually to those volunteers who meet their time
commitment. A uniform polo shirt and name badge are issued to graduates that are to be
worn on duty.

Age Requirement

The minimum age for all prospective volunteers is 15.

Cost

A $40 registration fee is required for the Volunteer Training Program. This fee covers the
costs of training materials, name badge and uniform polo shirt.

Time Commitment

A specific time commitment is expected from every volunteer. This commitment is

established with each volunteer upon completion of the Volunteer Training Program. For
weekday Gallery Guides, the time commitment is one four-hour shift per week and for
weekend Gallery Guides, two four-hour weekend shifts per month. Assistants have the
same kind of commitment, however their schedules vary depending upon the projects they
are working on.

12
Section 2
History, Mission and Vision
History
The dream of a maritime center began to take shape in the mid-1970s as part of the
South Norwalk Revitalization Project initiated by then-Mayor William Collins. Mayor
Collins appointed a task force representing South Norwalk merchants, property owners
and residents to guide the revitalization effort and hired a consultant to help develop a
planning strategy. This resulted in a revitalization plan, and, in 1980, a Feasibility Study
and Design Program was prepared by Joseph Wetzel Associates of Boston.
Four community groups made a major commitment to the development of a maritime
center: The City of Norwalk and its Redevelopment Agency, the Junior League of
Stamford and Norwalk, The Oceanic Society and the Norwalk Seaport Association.
These groups, and others, saw The Maritime Center as an anchor for the city’s
revitalization efforts in South Norwalk.
The development of the Center was closely linked to the revitalization of the historic
district as part of a two-fold attraction for visitors to Norwalk, creating a unique link
between the historic district and the river.
The City of Norwalk created The Maritime Center Authority to provide financing for the
Center, and subsequently, the Authority and The Maritime Center at Norwalk, Inc., a non-
profit corporation, entered into an agreement for the construction and operation of the
Center. In 1984, public improvements, including sidewalks and street lighting, were
completed. Restoration of the historic waterfront buildings on Washington Street was
essentially completed in 1985. In 1986, ground-breaking ceremonies took place on the
current site of The Maritime Aquarium.
The site consisted of large buildings on the Norwalk River, several dating back to 1865.
The buildings now known as Falconer Hall and Maritime Hall were built around 1867. The
Norwalk Iron Works manufactured castings for propellers and boiler plates, as well as
steam pumps, in this building. At the turn of the century, what is now the Aquarium wing
was built for the assembly of boiler pumps and exceptionally heavy equipment. Railroad
tracks entered the north end of the building so that trains could move the heavy materials
in and out of the building.
After World War II, the Supreme Slipper Company used the building for manufacturing
shoes. In the 1970s and 1980s, Wisner Boat Company built small boats and ocean-going
catamarans using a process called cold laid fiberglass construction in what is now the
Aquarium. The Maritime Hall building became a storage area.
There are many interesting anecdotes dealing with the opening. Perhaps the most
interesting deals with the Open Ocean Tank. The tank was filled and the animals placed in
the tank about a week prior to opening. The next day a break was discovered in the 25-
foot wide four-and-one-half-inch thick baked acrylic “glass.” The sharks had to be
removed (they were “stored” in a salt water swimming pool belonging to a member of the
Board of Trustees) while smaller animals remained in the water left in the tank. The
“glass,” which weighs 50,000 pounds, was removed, shipped to California where it had
been made, and repaired. It was shipped back on a flat-bed trailer, arriving two days
before the Center was scheduled to open. It was reinstalled, the tank refilled and, the
night before we opened, the sharks were returned from the swimming pool.
The Maritime Center opened its doors to the public on July 16, 1988. Since that time the
Center has received overwhelming support from the City of Norwalk and both the public
and private sectors. Major corporations and foundations have underwritten specific
exhibits and programs and, as we look to the future, The Maritime Aquarium is confident
additional exhibits and programs can be developed through similar public and private
partnerships. In July of 1996, the name was officially changed to The Maritime Aquarium
in order to more accurately describe what we are.
Today, measured in terms of environmental activities, quality educational programs, total
annual attendance or tourist dollars, The Maritime Aquarium is a major attraction in the tri-
state area.
13
Mission Principles

The Maritime Aquarium inspires people of all ages to appreciate Long Island Sound and The Maritime Aquarium is guided in its daily life by the following principles:

protect it for future generations. A vibrant and entertaining learning environment, it • Passion

achieves this goal through living exhibits, marine science, and environmental education. For the animals in our care, for our visitors, for our work, for nature

• Warmth

Vision In our welcoming interactions with visitors

• Pride

The Maritime Aquarium is the only aquarium focused on Long Island Sound. From this
In our work, in our service to visitors and the community

core, it explores related animals and conservation issues from around the world. Its
• Respect

exhibits, admired for their quality and dramatic elegance, are carefully designed to give
For our visitors, staff, colleagues and constituents

people of all ages entertaining, educational, and emotional experiences with animals in
• Integrity

order to instil a sense of wonder in the diversity of nature.
In all our dealings with ourselves and others

A constantly evolving facility, The Maritime Aquarium offers visitors personal interactions • Teamwork

with animals and interpretation by knowledgeable staff and volunteers. With its welcoming To collaboratively reach and execute the best decisions

atmosphere, focus on service to visitors, and outstanding amenities, The Maritime • Innovation

Aquarium is the premiere family destination in the region, attracting large numbers of To solve problems unconstrained by the status quo

return visitors. As it grows, it retains its intimate scale, and remains a beloved institution • Excellence

with deep ties to its community. In everything we do

Anchored by its collection, The Maritime Aquarium offers a preeminent visitor experience
and education programs widely admired for their depth and innovation. The Maritime
Aquarium supports an active collaborative research program on species and natural
systems related to its collections. It is a regional forum for dissemination of information
related to Long Island Sound and the oceans.

The Maritime Aquarium’s ultimate goal is to help people recognise that Long Island Sound
enriches the quality of their lives, and must be protected.

14
Section 3

Membership

Membership Opportunity to buy discounted Guest Passes good for admission to The Maritime
Aquarium (when accompanied by a member).

Members of The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk are active, thoughtful people who love the Seniors (ages 65 & up) receive a $10 discount off the cost of membership.
New England coast and look to us for opportunities to learn more about the ecology and
history of the region. Members are the first to be invited to many of the programs and Member Categories
events the Aquarium offers, often at attractive discounts.
Individual Plus One:

Maritime Aquarium annual membership entitles you to free Aquarium visits as often as $100

you like for a full year. You'll get to know a fascinating mix of marine life: playful river All the benefits of membership for one named adult and a guest, or two named adults.
otters, steely sharks, curious seals, our amazing loggerhead sea turtles, and the many
species of fish and crabs that live in Long Island Sound. You’ll want to come back to tour Family:

our ever-changing special exhibits and experience our spectacular IMAX movies. Plus, $150

members receive invitations for special Member-Only events, from advance IMAX All of the benefits of membership for two named adults living at the same address and
screenings to family workshops. their children OR grandchildren, 18 and under.

You can now join online or, if you prefer, you can print out a membership application from Family Au Pair:

our website, and either mail it, fax it (203) 838-5416 or bring it with you when you visit us. $170

Membership makes a difference, join today!
 All of the benefits of a family membership PLUS Free admission for children’s caregiver
Please contact our Membership Office at (203) 852-0700, ext. 2219, to purchase a gift of with family membership card.
membership.
Family Plus:

Member Benefits:
 $200

Unlimited general admission for one year.
 All of the benefits of a Family Au Pair membership PLUS One guest per visit
Two membership cards per family.
 (accompanied by member).
$2 discounts on all classic IMAX movies (for up to eight people at one screening).

$1 discount on all Hollywood IMAX movies (for up to eight people at one screening).
 Family Deluxe:

Discounts on many educational programs, trips, lectures, and workshops.
 $275

10% discount at The Maritime Aquarium Gift Shop.
 All of the benefits of membership PLUS One guest per visit (accompanied by member).
Subscription to our publication, The Maritimes.
 Free admission for children’s caregiver with family membership card.
Member-Only events, including IMAX screenings, exhibit previews and sleepovers.


15
Section 4

IMAX & Special Exhibits

The IMAX Theater

IMAX, short for “image maximum,” is the world's largest film format. High-resolution
images combined with state-of-the-art audio technology transport the viewer into a
sensory adventure. The Aquarium has the only IMAX Theater in Connecticut, with a
screen that's six stories high and eight stories wide. A feature film runs regularly
throughout the day, plus a double feature on Friday and Saturday evenings. In addition,
special arrangements may be made for groups to view any of the films in The Maritime
Aquarium’s library. An infrared sound system is available for the hearing impaired.

The IMAX Theater has played a key role in the Aquarium’s success. Almost one million
visitors have experienced this unique film format, which essentially provides another
rotating exhibit and another reason for our visitors to return.

Volunteers are strongly encouraged to experience the day time showings. You’ll be
able to provide a more personal opinion about the shows should a visitor ask. If you
come with a group you’ll get the regular member discount ($2 discount per person).

Unfortunately the evening features are normally outside our system and we pay normal
prices less the discount of Aquarium Membership. Usually a $1 savings.

Remind visitors that most daily shows run 50 minutes.

16
Chapter 3

Long Island
Sound
Geology, Ecology,
Environments, and
Residents
Nestled in the calm corner of Long Island Sound,
The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is dedicated to
the education of the future stewards. Since 1988
over 10 million visitors have passed through it’s
doors on the way to enlightenment. With
knowledge comes the power to protect the water,
the air, the land, the animals and even ourselves.
Section 1
Geology
I. Glacial History of Long Island Sound
Approximately 18,000 years ago coastal Connecticut and Long Island Sound were
covered by a thick sheet of ice. It is estimated to have been as much as 1000 meters thick
in the interior and 400-500 meters thick along its southern margin. This ice sheet was part
of the Late Wisconsin Glacier, which covered much of northern North America at the time.
It was the most recent of a series of glaciations to have spread from the polar regions
across the continent in the past 10 million years.
Exactly why climatic changes allowed vast layers of ice to repeatedly cover North America
is not well understood. Some think that sunspot activity or cosmic dust were responsible,
while others feel that variation in the Earth’s motion, movements of the Earth’s crust, or
changes in the atmosphere may have been the cause. No single hypothesis has yet
achieved widespread acceptance, and it is possible that several different phenomena
were involved.
A. Impact of the Glacier on Southern New England
Among the most dramatic changes brought about by glaciation were changes in sea level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeeIgDs4SdY At the peak, or maximum size, of the Late
Wisconsin Glacier, sea level stood about 100 meters lower than it does today. As a result,
large areas of land once above sea level are now submerged. The great weight of the
advancing glacier also depressed the land masses in interior areas by as much as one-
third the thickness of the ice.
The ice masses scoured vast quantities of rock and soil from the land as they moved
south. It is believed that the Late Wisconsin Glacier eroded an average of 20 meters of
surface materials from the preglacial New England landscape. The estimate is based on
the quantity of all sediments deposited as a result of glacial activity that are found on and
offshore in the New England region. Such glacial sediments are collectively known as
drift.
B. Moraines
18,000 years ago, the ice sheet was at its maximum size, extending across the present
Long Island Sound basin to southern Long Island. The southern margin of the glacier
remained there for a time in an “equilibrium” position, as the movement of the ice
southward was offset by the melting of the ice front due to a regional warming trend. At
this time, a large quantity of drift was deposited, known as a terminal moraine. The
southernmost deposit was called the Ronkonkoma Moraine. A somewhat later, more
northern equilibrium position resulted in the formation of the Harbor Hill Moraine (see
Figure 1 on the preceding page).
Evidence indicates that no moraines were formed in the central basin of Long Island
Sound, which suggests that the glacier receded across that area without establishing
equilibrium positions. Apparently there are no moraines between Harbor Hill on the south
side of the basin and a group of moraines near the Connecticut coastline on the north.
The Connecticut moraines, which are located both on and offshore, are discontinuous and
considerably smaller than the Long Island moraines (see Figure 2). They occur in a zone
which is less than 10- kilometers wide in most places. The smaller size and discontinuous
nature of these moraines is due to minimal deposits, presumably resulting from the
relatively short-term equilibrium position of the ice front in that area.
There are two principle areas at which lines of terminal moraines intersect the
Connecticut shoreline: the Norwalk area and the Madison-Old Saybrook area. In these
areas, relatively greater quantities of drift have led to the formation of sandy plains and
beaches. East of these areas the drift thins and there are more numerous bedrock
exposures. Where the drift cover is thinnest, rocky headlands, backed by marshes
predominate.
18
Within a ten-kilometer strip of the Connecticut coast, numerous islands and shoals are
found. Some, like the Captain Islands near Greenwich, the Norwalk Islands, and Falkner
Island off Guilford, are segments of a terminal moraine. Other islands, like the Thimbles off
Branford. are principally exposed bedrock with a thin, discontinuous cover of drift. Still
other shoals and islands fall somewhere between these two extremes and appear to be
bedrock with a more substantial mantle of drift. Also offshore are several sandy deltas,
including those in Bridgeport and New Haven. These deltas were formed by materials
deposited by melting glaciers.
C. The Long Island Sound Basin
The basin of Long Island Sound, which predates glaciation and is probably a stream-
carved feature, received a relatively thick cover of sand and gravel as the ice front
receded. Such materials, deposited by glacial melt water streams, are termed outwash.
The basin is bounded on the west by a ridge about 20 meters below present sea level and
on the east by another ridge, the Mattituck Sill. The lowest point of this ridge is
approximately 25 meters below sea level. These ridges, together with the lowered sea
level during the glacial period, kept Long Island Sound isolated from the open ocean. As a
result, glacial melt water pouring into the Sound formed a freshwater lake (see Figure 1 on
the preceding page).
The Sound remained a freshwater lake until approximately 8 ,000 years ago, by which
time sea level had risen to 25 meters below its present level. At this point, seawater
entered the central basin of Long Island Sound, changing it from a non-tidal, freshwater
lake to a tidal, saline arm of the sea.
Continued global warming and the shrinkage of glaciers led to further rises in sea level.
Present sea level is probably approaching its maximum for the current inter-glacial period.
Studies of marsh sediments on the Connecticut coast indicate that sea level rose at the
rate of approximately 1.2 millimeters per year from 8,000 to 3,500 years ago; about 0.8
millimeters per year until 100 years ago; and two-four millimeters per year (or about 1-1
1/2 feet per century) since then.
II. Physical Oceanography
Long Island Sound is an estuary; a protected coastal body of water with open connections
to the sea, in which saline seawater is measurably diluted by fresh water. Ocean water
flows in and out of the Sound through the opening in the eastern end, known as the Race.
Fresh water, from the rivers entering the Sound, dilutes the seawater. Estuarine properties
are repeated on a smaller scale in the many harbors and river mouths in the Sound. Thus,
Long Island Sound is a large estuary with many smaller estuaries, such as New Haven
Harbor and the mouth of the Connecticut River, at its edge.
A. Tides
On the shores of Long Island Sound, the waters rise and advance, then fall and retreat
with a regular rhythm. The tides are produced by the gravitational attraction of the moon
and sun on the ocean water. The rotation of the earth causes the tide to be semi-diurnal; in
other words, the Sound experiences high tide about twice a day (once every 12 hours and
25 minutes, to be more exact). The difference in the water depth between high and low
tide is called the tidal range.
The tides in Long Island Sound are driven by the oceanic tide outside the Race. Because
of the Sound’s size and shape, it is particularly tuned to amplify the oceanic tide.
Consequently, the tidal range in the western Sound is larger than the tidal range in the
east. At Stamford, for example, the average tidal range is about 2. 2 meters (7.2 feet) while
at New London the range is only 0.9 meters (3.0 feet).
Associated with the tidal changes in water level are strong tidal currents. Figure 3 on the
preceding page shows a generalized tidal sequence for Long Island Sound. As the water
level is falling after high tide, water is flowing eastward out of the Sound through the Race.
This is the ebb (outgoing) tide. When the water level begins to rise again after low tide, the
flood (incoming) tidal currents are bringing water westward, into the Sound. The tidal
currents rush in and out (flood and ebb) with the current speeds at their minimum near
times of high and low tides. Figure 4 is a graph of the current flow in the east-west
direction measured on November 5 and 6 near the bottom of the central Sound. It also
depicts the water depth measured simultaneously at the same location. Notice that high
tide occurs when the east-west tidal current speed is almost zero.
The tidal currents reach their greatest speeds in the eastern Sound. The current speeds
diminish to the west (see Figure 4). When a 5.0 knot current is running through the Race,
for example, the flow past Stamford may only be 0.5 knots. (A “knot” is a unit of speed of
one nautical mile per hour, equivalent to 1.15 Statute miles).
B. Salinity
19
Long Island Sound is an arm of the sea; however, the saline sea water in it is diluted with
fresh water from the rivers of Connecticut. This dilution is increasingly pronounced moving
westward, away from the source of salt water, the ocean. The salinity of the surface water
at the Race is typically about 30 parts salt per 1000 parts water, or, as it is scientifically
expressed, 30 o/oo. The salinity diminishes to about 26 o/oo at Stamford. Salt water has a
greater density than fresh water; therefore, fresh water floats on more saline water.
Consequently, at any location the surface water is usually less saline than the water near
the bottom by one or two parts per thousand.
The distribution of salinity at any particular time depends on many factors, such as the
magnitude of river discharge and rate of evaporation. Differences in salinity among
different parts of the Sound result from a continuous flow of both fresh water and salt water
through the Sound. On the average, some 470 cubic meters (about 120,000 gallons) of
fresh water enter the Sound every second. The Connecticut River is the major contributor;
this one source accounts for more than 70 percent of the freshwater supply. Nonetheless,
the inflow of sea water greatly exceeds the fresh water supply. An estimated 19,000 cubic
meters per second (over 5 million gallons per second) enter the central Sound from the
ocean.
C. Circulation
The horizontal and vertical salinity differences in Long Island Sound are typical of many
estuaries, and they produce a characteristic estuarine circulation of water. The heavy,
saline bottom water sinks and flows under the fresher surface water. Thus, saline bottom
water flows westward into the Sound, while less saline surface water flows eastward out of
the Sound. Intense mixing of surface and bottom water occurs in the shallow near-shore
regions and over reefs and shoals.
The estuarine circulation flows all of the time, during both ebb and flood tides. Thus, the
current observed in Long Island Sound is the sum of the estuarine circulation and the tidal
currents. The estuarine circulation, however, is so slow that it can only be noticed by
careful measurements. In the central Sound, the maximum tidal current speed may be 1.0
knot, while the speed of the superimposed estuarine circulation is likely to be less than 0.2
knots. The speed of this flow of bottom water diminishes to the west, and at depths less
than about 20 meters (65.6 feet), bottom water flows shoreward into the near-shore mixing
zone.
D. Sediments
The currents sweep the bottom sediments of Long Island Sound. They have worked the
sandy bottom of the eastern Sound into large underwater dunes, or sand waves. The
estuarine circulation superimposed on the tidal currents produces a net westward transport
of sand out of the eastern Sound into the central muddy basin.
In the central and western basins, a large amount of silt has accumulated. Fine sediment
is introduced by the rivers and is carried by the estuarine circulation into the inner Sound.
The accumulation of silt is aided by the feeding activity of animals inhabiting the muddy
bottom. Fine grains of silt are bound into much larger fecal pellets of bottom-dwelling
animals. The muddy central basin is covered with a layer of fecal pellets about 0.5
centimeters (0.2 inches) thick.
Every tidal cycle a layer of sediment one or two millimeters thick (less than a tenth of an 1
inch) is eroded and redistributed within the central basin. Throughout the Sound, the tidal
streams re-suspend and redeposit more than seven million tons of sediment daily. Despite
this activity, fine silt is accumulating in the central and western basins of Long Island
Sound at the rate of about a millimeter per year.
E. Temperature
Long Island Sound is a dynamic environment of strong tidal currents and varied salinity.
The water temperature is also extremely variable. In the Sound, the water temperature
oscillates from 0° Celsius (32° Fahrenheit) in the winter to about 22° Celsius (71.6°
Fahrenheit) in the summer, a range as great as that of any body of water in the world.
III. Shoreline Features and Process
Connecticut’s shoreline has a number of distinct land features such as tidal marshes,
intertidal flats, bays, islands, headlands and bluffs, and beaches. Figure 5 on the following
page shows the general distribution of some of the noted landforms along the Connecticut
shore. These features are a direct result of a number of physical and geologic factors,
including glaciation, changing sea level, waves, tidal currents and wind. Through the
processes of erosion, transportation and deposition, these factors created and continue to
modify existing landforms.
A. Processes
Erosion is the wearing away of the earth’s surface by the action of natural forces, such as
wind and water. Sediments that are eroded from the shoreline are transported by wind and
20
wave energy and tidal currents, and eventually are deposited elsewhere. Tidal marshes
and mud flats are examples of areas resulting from depositional activity.
It is important to bear in mind that any feature under the influence of a number of separate
but interrelated factors is dynamic. It must respond to both short and long term trends. Due
to the influence of the tides, the ones where wave action affects the shoreline change
daily. Changes in sea level, on the other hand, must be viewed as long term trends,
causing modification of shoreline configuration over a period of thousands of years.
Because of their dynamic nature, no shoreline or shore feature should be considered as
strictly erosional, depositional or stable, but rather, each should be viewed as continuously
changing.
1. Rising Sea Level
Approximately 8,000 years ago rising sea level first began to influence Long Island Sound,
which was previously a freshwater lake (see I., “Glacial History”). Since that time, sea level
has continued to rise and has “drowned” features which were previously upland, such as
river valleys and glacial moraines. Such land forms as small embayments (New Haven
Harbor) and some offshore islands (Norwalk Islands) subsequently appeared. In addition,
tides and related currents began to affect the Sound.
2. Wave Dynamics
Surface waves are produced by wind blowing over open water. Generally speaking, wave
conditions are governed by three factors: fetch, or the length of unobstructed water over
which the wind blows; duration, or the length of time for which the wind blows at a given
speed from a given direction; and the velocity of the wind. As each of these factors is
increased, larger waves can be generated. In the Long Island Sound area wind direction
varies on a seasonal basis, with winds blowing generally from the south and southwest
during spring and summer months and from the north and northwest during the fall and
winter. Winds blowing from southerly directions generate the waves which most dominate
Connecticut’s shoreline.
As waves traveling across Long Island Sound enter water of increasingly shallow depth,
they become gradually steeper until their crests fall forward as breakers, creating what is
commonly known as surf: Since the Sound is almost entirely sheltered by Long Island and
Fishers Island, fetch is limited and large waves, such as those which break on shores
exposed to the open ocean, do not reach Connecticut’s coast. Normally, waves breaking
on the Connecticut side of Long Island Sound range in height up to six feet, although
during infrequent storms and hurricanes larger waves can be expected .
As waves approach the shore and break, they release energy. This energy erodes and
transports shoreline sediments in three ways. Longshore currents, which are created when
waves break at an angle to the shore, carry sediments along (parallel to) the shore. Also,
waves may transport sediments either on or offshore, depending upon the nature of the
actual “breaker.” The steeper “plunging” breakers tend to move material offshore, while the
less steep “spilling” breakers tend to move material onshore.
The zones in which waves exert the most influence (where breaking occurs) are changed
daily due to rising and falling tides
3. Tidal Currents
Currents created by the action of the tides are also important in the erosion, transportation,
and deposition of sediments along our shores, particularly at inlets, bays and river mouths.
When tides enter small coves, harbors, and other embayments with inlets (constricted
openings), the velocity of the current is significantly higher. The narrower the inlet, the
higher the current velocity. At inlets, an equilibrium situation normally exists; that is, there is
a balance between the size of the inlet and the volume of the tidal exchange. If an inlet is
below a certain equilibrium size (due to the deposition of sediment from storms, etc.),
stronger currents will erode the material from the inlet, eventually returning it to
equilibrium. If, on the other hand, the size of the inlet is above the equilibrium, currents are
slower and may deposit material at the inlet.
In bays and other semi-enclosed quiescent bodies of water along the shore, finer materials
carried in by tidal currents are deposited, giving rise to inter-tidal mud flats. At river mouths
and, in some instances, at points of land which project seaward, tidal currents can act in
conjunction with longshore currents to move material along the shore and modify
magnitudes and directions of longshore currents.
4. Winds
Winds, in addition to generating waves, are also capable of moving sediments along the
shore above water level. Their influence is most apparent in the formation of sand dunes.
As mentioned previously, normal wind direction varies seasonally. Hurricane force winds
are most likely to occur during the late summer and fall. Waves generated by hurricane
21
winds cause significant and sudden changes to our shores, such as breaching barrier
beaches or filling inlets.
5. Biological Processes
Biological factors are important in the formation of shoreline features, particularly tidal
marshes and dunes. Beach grass and other dune vegetation as well as various salt marsh
species encourage the deposition of sediments by acting as physical barriers to the
transport of materials and by stabilizing materials with their root systems. The role of
vegetation will be covered in a later section.
B. Features
1. Headlands and Bluffs
In Connecticut, headlands may be composed of glacial drift and/or bedrock. Their original
formation is a direct result of glacial scouring and deposition. Where these features are
composed of glacial drift, which is easily eroded, they provide a major source for
sediments which are then transported to other sites, forming beaches, marshes and mud
flats. In contrast to drift, bedrock is highly resistant to erosion and as a result is only
weathered slowly by waves, winds and tidal currents. Headlands are easily recognized as
higher hilly forms projecting seaward. Bluff Point is a typical headland which provides a
sediment source for Bushy Point Beach .
2. Beaches
Beaches are generally considered to be erosion prone; however their initial development is
a result of the depositional process. The character of the beach is regulated by the balance
between erosional and depositional forces. When these forces are in dynamic equilibrium,
beach form remains constant. When the equilibrium is altered, the beach may either grow
or diminish in size. For example, if the sediment source of the beach is depleted, either as
a result of a natural process or through the construction of a man-made feature such as a
sea wall, the beach will recede. If, however, additional sediment becomes available and is
transported to the beach, it may increase in size.
Another factor affecting beaches is rising sea level. As sea level rises, the beach as a
system may retreat in response to changing balance between erosion and deposition.
Thus, it may eventually override the land behind it. Such a situation exists at Cedar Island,
Clinton, where peat deposits project from the beach face.
Several types of beach are found on the shores of Long Island Sound. Included are:
• spits, or projections of sand attached at one end to an island or the mainland
• tombolos, or stretches of sand connecting an island and the mainland or two islands
• pocket beaches, which occur in small crescent-shaped coves and directly front uplands.
Spits and tombolos may be referred to as barrier beaches in instances where they extend
parallel to the mainland, but are separated from it by a body of water or marsh. Examples
of these types of beaches may be seen at Griswold Point in Old Lyme (spit), and on the
Norwalk Islands (tombolo).
As illustrated in Figure 6, beaches show characteristic profiles which are related to waves,
wind, tides and biological activity. Although the profile shown is for a classic ocean fronting
beach, many of the same features are found on beaches along the Sound. The seaward
portion of the profile (the beach proper) changes constantly in response to variations in
tidal ranges, weather and surf conditions. Dunes formed by aeolian (windblown) sand
deposits vary in response to wind and sand supply. Vegetation (such as Beach Grass)
growing on the dunes stabilizes them and encourages their growth. Dunes provide an
important reservoir of sand which may replenish beaches during times of severe erosion.
Typical beaches in Connecticut are relatively narrow with steep faces composed of coarser
sand and some gravel. They generally lack well developed dunes.
IV. Some Interesting Long Island Sound Facts
• Long Island Sound (LIS) is home for approximately 1/8 of the United States population.
• Over 110,000 pleasure boats are registered on Long Island Sound.
• New Haven Harbor is the Sound’ s busiest port, handling about 1/2 the tonnage of
Boston Harbor.
• The majority of cargo carried on LIS is oil.
• The loss of “clarity” in LIS is mostly due to phytoplankton (microscopic drifting plants) and
sediments. Phytoplankton accounts for about 1/3 of the loss.
• Average depth of the Sound is 60 feet; its maximum depth is 320 feet.
22
• The Sound stretches from the Throgs Neck Bridge to Little Gull Island. V. Suggested Reading
• The Sound is 21 miles across at its widest point and has over 500 miles of coastline.
Bascum, W. M.Waves & Beaches, Garden City, N.Y.

• The Sound’s most important commercial fisheries handle oysters, hard-shell clams, and
Anchor Books, 1964
lobsters.
Bloom A.L.and Ellis,C.W., Jr., Postglacial Stratigraphy and Morphology of Costal
• Sports fishing accounts for most of the fish caught in LIS.
Connecticut.

• LIS has over 100 species of fish, from sharks to sea horses.
Connecticut Geological Natural History Survey Guidebook No. 1,1965.

• LlS has a large variety of marine animals. Among these are two species of coral:
Hill, D.E. and Shearin, A.E., Tidal Marshes of Connecticut and Rhode Island

- the northern coral, a star coral

Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 709: 34 p., 1970

- dead man’s finger, a soft coral.

Riley, G. A. et al; Oceanography of Long Island Sound

• Harbor seals sometimes enter LIS during the winter months.

Bingham Oceanog. Coll. Bull., v. 15,1956

• The largest colony of nesting seabirds is on Chimon Island, off Norwalk.

Turekian, K. K., Oceans

• There are at least 1000 shipwrecks on the bottom of Long Island Sound. The most recent
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Inc., 1968
wreck occurred in November of 1984 when the tug Celtic sank off Norwalk, taking with it all
six of its crewmen. This section was reprinted from

Long Island Sound, An Atlas of Natural Resources

Coastal Area Management Program

Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, November 1977

23
Section 2

Environments
however, is also important to the Sound’s creatures. The salinity in the Sound is about 30
parts per thousand (ppt) at the Race and some 26 ppt off Norwalk. In front of the Maritime
Aquarium, bottom salinity is typically 22-23 ppt, and near the surface it can be 5-15 ppt (or
less). As the tide moves up the river, the more dense salt water remains near the bottom
(known as a salt water wedge), and the fresh water stays on top.

The shoreline and bottom of Long Island Sound can be broadly divided into three
environments that include mud, sand and rock; each has distinct features that contribute
to the successful establishment of marine life forms. Some of the permanent and
temporary residents can only live in a specific habitat or environment, while others
manage to nourish in all three

II. Sand Environment

Limiting factors (abiotic): temperature

Limiting factors (other): unstable, no place to hide

I. Seasons
Viewing a sample of intertidal sand under a light-powered microscope, it is difficult to
There are seasons in the Sound and the marine creatures residing here are profoundly
imagine the type of creature that thrives in this desert-like environment. The north and
influenced by the resulting changes in temperatures. The Sound's temperatures vary from
mid-Atlantic sand beaches and sand bottoms are, for the most part, composed of particles
32°F in the winter to 72°F or more in the summer -shallow bays and tide pools easily
of quartz and feldspar that are constantly being lifted and carried by winds, waves and
exceed 72°F. As the spring waters warm, many marine animals migrate into Long Island
currents. Strong winter waves move the sediment off the beach and deposit it offshore as
Sound and remain until the autumn cooling. Others, however, such as the winter flounder,
a sandbar. Gentle summer waves return the sand shoreward and rebuild the beach.
the windowpane flounder and the mantis shrimp, have managed to adapt to the
Longshore currents slowly transport the sand parallel to the shoreline. In this atmosphere
temperature extremes and have become year-round residents.
of continual shifting and scouring, the environment can neither provide for attachment of

Some of the Sound’s creatures can withstand very low levels of salinity and can thus sea weeds and marine animals, nor would it seem capable of offering others food or a

establish themselves in the lower reaches of our rivers; others are effectively blocked by hiding place from predators. Yet after watching through the microscope for just a short

low salinity and must live in the more open Sound. This ability to withstand the low salinity time, it is apparent that there are a number of minute creatures moving through the sand.

helps certain species, such as the oyster, avoid predators, such as the sea star. Habitat, A thin piece of quartz flickers up an down as a roundworm (nematode) breaks its way to
the surface. In another area, a tiny tube-shaped crustacean with a single red eye and

24
short antennae can be seen emerging from the sediment. The crustacean, a harpacticoid A. Residents of the Sand Environment: a partial list
copepod, swims for a short distance and disappears as quickly as it makes its entrance.
These creatures are but two of a number of animals that have adapted to this harsh Microfauna:
environment.
Protozoans
The creatures of the sand and other marine environments are often divided into groups
Meifauna:
according to their size. The macro fauna are generally regarded as animals that can easily
be seen, while the micro fauna are those that are invisible to the unaided eye. The
1. Nematode worms
intermediate size, meiofauna, are described as animals that are small enough to pass
through a 0. 5 mm mesh but are retained by a 5u mesh (u = micron = 1/1000 mm –1 mm
2. Harpaticoid copepods (crustaceans) gastrotrich and tardigard.
= .03937 in.). The meiofauna, also known as the interstitial fauna, can reach a length of
1-2 mm. They are, however, slim enough to slip through the spaces between the sand Macrofauna:
grains (interstitial space), usually without pushing the particles aside. An elongated or
tubular shape is characteristic of the meiofauna. 1. Mollusks: gem shell, duck clam, hard-shell clam, soft-shelled clam, razor clam,
common periwinkle, moon snail.
The harpacticoid copepod and nematode are part of the meiofauna as well as others that
include the especially strange-looking species such as the gastrotrich and tardigrade. The 2. Crustaceans: species of amphipod, mole crab, cumaceans, sand shrimp, mud
nematode is, however, the most common of the these creatures, representing about 70 shrimp(Callianassa atlantica), lady crab, green crab, spider crab, species of hermit crabs,
percent of the meiofauna. On a Danish mud flat over four million nematodes were reported mantis shrimp.
in an area of one square meter (10.76 Ft2)! These creatures are found world-wide from the
arctic to the tropics. They inhabit the land, fresh water and the sediments in the depths of 3. Horseshoe crab.
the oceans. In the marine environment, certain nematodes feed on microscopic algae
4. Cnidarians: Cerianthid anemone
(diatoms). They also can attack larger organisms by using their teeth and then sucking out
the contents. Other species feed on bacteria and detritus.
5. Echinoderms: sand dollar, Forbes sea star, dwarf brittle star

The smallest sized animals, the micro fauna, are exclusively protozoans, one-celled
6. Worms: nematode worms, milky ribbon worm (Nemertean), polychaetes: blood
creatures that belong to the lowest division in the animal kingdom. The largest, the macro
worm, sand worm, tube builders.
fauna, are the easiest to observe and a selected number of them are covered in this text.
Just as in the case of mud and rock, the sand supports certain animals that live only in that
7. Fish: winter flounder, summer flounder, windowpane flounder, species of sea robin,
environment. Others, however, are found in various mixtures of sand and mud or any other
toadfish, tomcod, species of skates, pipefish, etc.
substrate. Some live on the surface of the sand (epifauna) though they may occasionally
bury themselves. Others live most of their lives in the sediment (infauna).

Shorebirds such as the sandpiper, actively feed on the invertebrates living in the sediment.
Scurrying along the edge of the receding tide, the bird probes the sand with its long
slender beak. Then, as the next wave breaks over the holes, tiny creatures are washed to
the surface and are carried seaward in the thin film or water; they are eagerly picked up by
the foraging bird.

25
Section 3
Life Between the Tides
For purposes of organization, identification and nomenclature, zoologists divide the
animal kingdom into groups or phyla. Phyla are usually listed and described according to
the complexity of the internal structures of the individual animals, starting with the
simplest. PHYLA are divided into CLASSES which are further subdivided into ORDER,
FAMILY, GENUS and SPECIES. Animals in the Maritime Aquarium Touch Tank belong to
the phyla Porifora, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinoderma and Xiphosura. Descriptions
follow in that order. Animals exhibited in other tanks or available only as shells are
described in later sections.
PHYLUM PORIPHERA
Sponges are multicellular animals in which cells with different specialties join and
cooperate in the business of living. Skeletons of silica crystals and a protein called
spongin provide shape and stiffness. Sponges are filled with internal pores and canals
through which water, circulated by cilia, brings in plankton and disposes of wastes
Once they have become attached sponges do not move. Their wide dispersal is due to the
planktonic movement of their larvae in the water column and to the limited motions of some larval
forms as they select sites for attachment. Sponges in Long Island Sound have few enemies but
elsewhere may be preyed on by some fish, arthropods and echinoderms.
SULFUR BORING SPONGE: (Cliona celata )
The Sulfur Boring Sponge is most often exhibited in its absence, in that it is
the animal that makes holes in and on both living and dead shells. Visitors
often report that they have seen holes in shells on the beach, and have
never before known where they came from.
Cliona gets its common name from its sulfur yellow color. Once settled, it
does not move. Its larvae excavate protective holes or tunnels in calcium containing substrates for
protection.. Living shells are not usually perforated completely since the animal inside repairs any
damage that reaches as far as its mantle. The sponge is not interested in the flesh of the resident
mollusk, but may eat the protein conchiolin that forms part of the shell structure.
Food:
In common with other sponges Cliona eats plankton, minute organic particles, living or dead.
Digested material is passed from cell to cell. Wastes are discharged from the cells into water
being circulated by cilia on the walls of pores and circulatory canals, and are thereby expelled.
Reproduction:
Cliona celata reproduces asexually: separate males and females are not required. Instead, a
group of cells forms a clump that then becomes covered by a layer of cells that acts as a protective
shell. These clumps, called gemmules, are formed during the summer and autumn after which
they are shed into the water column where they are dispersed by currents. In the following spring
the gemmules develop into new sponges.
RED BEARD SPONGE: Microciona prolifera
The Red Beard Sponge may form a thin encrusting orange to red layer on
rocks, shells and other hard substrates, or may become a solid or branched
body up to 8" tall. The red beard is a commensal. It lives, not as a parasite,
but on or with another or other organisms, perhaps sharing its food.
Commensal means eating at the same table.
As an exhibit:
This sponge is often brought to the Maritime Aquarium as a body looking like bright orange or red
twigs on a branch. It soon loses its color and turns a dull brown as the cells slowly die from lack of
food in the artificial aquarium water.
PHYLUM MOLLUSCA
The second largest phylum, Mollusca (soft bodied animals), has more than 100,000 living
described species. Its classes include bivalves (Pelecypoda), snails (Gastropoda), sand slugs,
chitons, squids, and octopuses. Mollusk body plans are all similar. Most have a fleshy foot, a
26
mantle, one or more gills, a radula (tongue), and a hard protective shell. The hard shell is not an
important characteristic as there are hard-shelled animals in other phyla.
Mollusk shell, produced by glands in the mantle, has three layers. A dark horny outer covering or
periostracum protects the shell and the hinge ligament of bivalves and prevents calcium in the shell
from being dissolved by carbonic acid in the water. The middle or prismatic layer of the shell is
composed largely of two or more crystalline forms of calcium carbonate. The innermost or pearly
layer is formed of sheets of calcium carbonate laid down parallel to the surface. The outer layers
are secreted at the edge of the mantle. The layers are separated by a protein, called conchiolin,
that also forms the ligament. In addition to the inorganic salts in the shell, there is a matrix of
protein that helps to bind the crystals.
A clam is usually sedentary, but can move by extending its foot and pulling itself along. This
movement is not fast enough for it to escape predators, but can allow it to move to a more favorable
location.
Reproduction:
Clams have two sexes. Eggs and sperm are expelled into the water column where fertilization and
further development takes place. One of the larval stages, called the veliger, can swim and thereby
can extend the range of its parents.
Food:

CLASS PELECYPODA The clam is a filter feeder. It extracts food from the plankton that pass over its body in the course of
respiration.
This class includes the bivalves: clams, oysters, mussels and scallops. Their shells are fastened by
a ligament on the back edge. An elevated knob called the umbone or umbo is near the ligament. Enemies:
The end of the animal nearer the umbone is the anterior or front. Bivalves are filter feeders. Cilia
Larva and young clams are food for many other animals. Larger clams are preyed on by fish such
in the gills beat rhythmically to bring water in. Oxygen is absorbed by the gills and the mantle.
as tautog and both skates and rays that are equipped with mouth parts or teeth adapted to crack
Food is extracted both by mucous and cilia in specialized areas of the mantle. Carbon dioxide and
their shells. They are also seriously attacked by sea stars, whelks and other snails.
wastes are eliminated in the excurrent water stream.

Age:
Although bivalves can remain closed for lengthy periods, particularly when under attack by
predators, they must eventually open their shells to eliminate carbon dioxide that is poisonous when
These clams grow quickly when young, reaching 2-3" in three to four years, but more slowly after
its concentration rises above certain limits. The same reflex occurs in humans. Holding one's
that. They may live 20-25 years after reaching maximum growth of about 4". In Iceland, two
breath is limited more because of too much carbon dioxide rather than too little oxygen.
specimens were “aged” at ~200 and ~400 years respectively. Are they the oldest living creature?
Probably but the age was determined by counting the rings, not a very exact process.

As an exhibit:
HARD SHELL CLAM: Mercenaria mercenaria

Indians used this clam's shells to make wampum. Indeed, the Latin name, mercenaria, as a
! The quahog, round or hard shell clam is known by the market names little
reminder. The blue portion of the inside of the shell was often used for decoration as well as for
neck, cherrystone and chowder, depending on size. Clams bury
money.
themselves almost completely in sandy or muddy bottom with their heads
(anterior end) down. The foot is anterior. The incoming and outgoing
SOFT SHELL CLAM: Mya arenaria
water siphons are posterior where they can remain above bottom
sediments. An average size individual pumps 2.5 liters of water per hour,
Soft clam shells are considerably thinner than the hard shelled variety.
about 15 gallons per day, using cilia in the gills.
The valves do not meet tightly except at the ligament and on the
opposite edge, the ventral side. At the posterior end the shells are
Movement:
permanently open for the large siphon to pass through. The siphon that
takes in and expels water is not withdrawn into the body. This clam

27
stays under the surface of mud or sand, extends its siphon when covered with water, and withdraws
it at low tide when it becomes uncovered.
As an exhibit:
In the Boston area this animal is known as a "clam". Around Norwalk it is called a "steamer."
Visitors will know it as the clam that spits when one walks along the shore or on the mud flats.
COMMON OYSTER: Crassostrea virginica
Although there are several species of oyster that live wild or are cultivated elsewhere
than in Long Island Sound, the common oyster is known as the Blue Point,
Chincoteague, Appalachicola, etc. depending on where it was reared. In talking
about oysters it is helpful to remember that the flatter valve is the right side and the
head or anterior end is at the narrow portion. Oysters are always attached on their
left shell, usually with their heads down.
Reproduction:
Oysters are protandric meaning that in their first year most function as males. After spawning, both
sexes enter an undifferentiated state from which, in subsequent years, they can be either male or
female. The determination appears to depend on external factors such as the size of the oyster,
how near it is to other males or females, and the quality of the food supply. They do not change sex
during the year, but some species of oyster change more than once in subsequent years: some
never change.
Oysters become sexually mature during their first year. A large female oyster may produce as
many as 5 to 10 million eggs at each spawning, and may do so several times a year. At the same
time, or slightly ahead, the male produces sperm so the excess in the water column facilitates
fertilization. Eggs are hardly larger than the motes in cigarette smoke.
Spawning begins when the water reaches about 68° with the high point of the season at 72°.
Spawning takes place several times a year. Fertile eggs drop to the bottom. A European species
(Ostrea edulis ) is ovoviviparious, meaning that the female holds eggs in her mantle until they hatch
and the larvae can swim away.
Larval Development:
4 hours after fertilization the shell rudiments appear at one end of the egg, cilia (movable hairs)
appear at the other. The oyster larva then swims up near the surface where it can find microscopic
food particles. The swimming form is called a veliger. It has all the necessary parts to be an
oyster, but development continues for the next 15 to 20 days while the veligers scatter throughout
the water column. At the end of its swimming period the veliger looks like a small oyster about
1/64" long. When the veliger settles to the bottom it attaches what will become its left valve to
some hard clean support using a permanent cement. The young attached oyster is called spat.
Veligers can become spat for only a limited time after the first 15 days. The process is dependent
on water temperature and environmental conditions. Most veligers are eaten by other animals or
die naturally after failing to attach themselves. Sea stars and comb jellies, as well as many other
animals, prey on larval oysters.
Age:
After three months, the spat is about the size of a dime. Oysters may live to be 12 years old but
reach their maximum reproductive potential between 4 and 7 years. Shell is built in spring and
early fall leaving bands measuring 1/2" to 3/8". Counting two bands per year can give some idea of
the animal's age, but is not necessarily exact.
Vision;
Oysters are sensitive to light. An open oyster bathed in sunlight will close if a shadow passes over
it.
Enemies:
Whelks, sea stars and drills are the predominant predators on Long Island Sound oyster beds. The
Oyster Drill (Urosalpinx cinerea ) and the Thick-Lip Drill (Eupleura caudata ) (see below) leave
perforations in the shell that are narrow toward the inside.
Internal Curiosities:
Oysters have blue blood. Their corpuscles contain cyanoglobin, a copper containing molecule.
Red human blood, in contrast, contains hemoglobin, an iron containing molecule.
Cilia or moveable hairs on internal surfaces sweep water through the body cavities. Oxygen and
carbon dioxide are exchanged and curtain-like members covered with sticky mucus trap plankton
and other edible materials. Adult oysters may pump as much as 6-7 gallons of water per hour, but
they do not pump continuously. The pumping rate depends on the amount of food available and the
water temperature among other variables. It seems likely that a mature oyster can clean up to 70
gallons of water per day.
Oysters may produce odd-shaped pearls of no value if some irritating substance inside the mantle
cannot be dislodged, but oysters that make jewel-like pearls are found only in warmer waters.
28

TRANSVERSE ARC: Anadara transversa
Arcs are often found on local beaches. The arc shell is strongly corrugated in radial fashion with the
center at the apex of the shell. The shell is covered by a periostracum that may be dark in color
and hairy. Local arcs range between 1 and 11/2" in width.
BLUE MUSSEL: Mytilus edulis
Blue mussels may be found attached to rocks, to pilings and to each other in beds where water
movement brings nutrients. They attach themselves with strong, orange
colored filaments called byssus threads that are produced from glands in
the foot. As with other pelecypods, a young mussel can move slowly to a
more favorable location by using its muscular foot. In older mussels the
foot is used for the production of protein to make byssus threads. Older
animals can move by casting out byssus threads and pulling with internal muscles.
Reproduction:
Mussels have separate sexes. Being sessile animals, they reproduce by expelling eggs and sperm
into the water column where the two meet to become fertilized. This spawning takes place in late
winter or early spring. Female mussels can produce 10-20 million eggs in a season. Pheromones
expelled with the eggs stimulate male sperm production and act as attractants to the larval forms
that are looking for a place to settle.
Growth:
Mussels add shell along the outer edges as they grow. Shell building takes place in spring and fall
while the animal is not busy making eggs or sperm. Each addition leaves a mark so the mussel's
age can be determined approximately by counting the annual groups and dividing by two.
Internal Curiosities:
Mussels can filter nearly 25 gallons of water a day. This large volume brings with it not only
planktonic nutrients, but pollutants and poisons that may be in the water. When these toxins are
stored in the body, the mussel may be poisonous if eaten. Mussel, clam and oyster beds are
carefully monitored to make sure none are taken if they can be harmful.
RIBBED MUSSEL: Modiolus demisus
Looking similar in shape to the blue mussel, the ribbed is characterized by radial lines in the shell
that start at the apex and a yellowish brown or greenish periostracum.
The ribbed mussel lives in muddy bottoms and particularly in the reed
beds where it is well protected. Except for the ribs, Modiolus and Mytilus
differ mostly in the shape of the apex or pointed end of the shell. The
ribbed mussel may be dangerous to eat because it is often associated
with species of toxic blue-green algae.
CLASS GASTROPODA
The class GASTROPODA (meaning stomach foot), containing the snails, has more than 35,000
species. In general gastropods have a flat foot for creeping and a distinct head with eyes and
tentacles. Usually they have a one piece shell. Most lay eggs. Larvae emerge as veligers, free
swimming planktonic forms.
Gastropods retain the same shell all their lives, adding new material at the edge of the opening by
means of glands on the body and, for lining the inside of the shell, from glands on the mantle.
Snails have tentacles on each side of the head that appear to be mainly sensitive to touch and
chemicals. There may also be light sensitive eyes somewhere along the tentacles.
CHANNELED WHELK: Busycotypus canaliculatus
This is the common whelk in this part of the Sound and at the Maritime Aquarium.
In restaurants it is served as scungilli. It eats bivalves, carrion, other snails and
other whelks. A whelk can hold an oyster with its foot and chip off the edge of the
shell to make a hole big enough to get its radula (tongue) inside. A whelk may also
insert its shell or mantle in an open bivalve to keep it from closing. The radula is
long, covered with hard teeth to tear its prey and transport it into its mouth. The
radula may carry digestive enzymes that make ingestion easier and faster.
Age:
As whelks grow they make more shell as needed. The visible lines on the outside of the shell do
not represent any particular season or timing pattern, and it is not possible to determine the age of a
whelk except by guess and experience.
Behavior:
Whelks generally live under the sand where they cruise in search of prey.
Vision;
29
Whelks eyes are at the base of the tentacles. The spots at the ends are for touch and taste.
Enemies:
Small whelks are eaten by other whelks, other snails, crabs, lobsters and some fish. When they
become too large, they are less apt to become prey. Instead, they are formidable predators.
Reproduction:
Most snails are hermaphrodites, meaning that both male and female sexual organs are present in
each animal. Snails are not self-fertilizing. When snails meet, they exchange packets of sperm
with which the eggs are subsequently fertilized. While buried in the sand, the spawning female
whelk expels a soft egg case, capsule or packet about every two hours which may be empty or in
which she may have deposited as many as 20 eggs, most of which can be fertile. The capsule
hardens quickly in the salt water. Capsules, which have knife-like edges, are connected to a strong
backbone or string that helps to keep them buried in the sand. After 90-120 days of development
the embryos have matured. Now an enzyme forms to dissolve the proteinaceous cork sealing the
egg capsule, and the veligers can escape. Newly hatched whelks resemble adults, except for size
and ability to move about in the water column. They immediately look for shelter and food.
KNOBBED WHELK: Busycon carica
The knobbed whelk is not as common as the channeled whelk in the Norwalk area. The animals
are similar in most respects except for the shapes both of their shells and
their egg packets. Knobbed whelk packets have square edges, Channeled
whelk packets have angular or knifelike edges. Knobbed whelks are likely
to become larger than channeled whelks.
COMMON ATLANTIC SLIPPERSNAIL: Crepidula fornicata
The slipper snail (also known as slipper shell, and boat shell) is a Limpet, a one-
shelled mollusk. A shelf inside that protects its viscera helps to give it its common
name of slipper shell. It has a single broad foot with which it holds securely to
solid surfaces. Crepidula does not move about except in the larval stage.
Food:
The slipper snail is a vegetarian. Unlike its cousin snails, it does not have a radula or tongue, but
extracts planktonic particles from the water it circulates over its enlarged gills with cilia that are
exposed when it raises its shell slightly from the substrate.
Reproduction:
In the Touch Tank, the slipper-snail is usually displayed as an individual or at most two or three in a
stack with the lowest one adhering to a rock, an oyster or a horseshoe crab. In the wild, however, it
is more often found in clumps or in stacks of 7 to 13 individuals attached to stones, shells, and to
each other. Each individual belongs to a different generation. The youngest, an immature male, is
on the top. Then follow three mature males, two bisexuals and three mature females. The males
on top fertilize the bisexuals which in turn fertilize the females below. Females secrete pheromones
that keep the males from changing sex.
When spawning Crepidula produces about 45 egg sacs, each holding about 250 eggs. The sacs
remain connected by a cord to the shell or rock to which the stack is attached. Eggs mature in
about 30 days and the swimming larvae look for a stack of slipper snails on which they can fasten.
EASTERN WHITE SLIPPER SNAIL: Crepidula plana
Similar in habits to Crepidula, the white slipper snail does not grow as large nor
does it form stacks like the boat snail.. The shelf inside is nearly straight across,
and the back does not arch nearly as much. When young, the white slipper snail
looks similar to oyster spat. Both can often be found inside whelk shells.
PERIWINKLE: Littorina littorea
This small edible gastropod was imported from England where it is a common,
well-liked sea food. It is mostly a vegetarian, browsing on algae, but will also
eat dead animal matter. It can survive several hours out of water, and is found
in large numbers on the rocks at low tide where it is easily confused with mud
snails. Grazing periwinkles leave a mowed path on the rocks as they browse
the algae.
EASTERN MUD SNAIL: Ilyanassa obsoleta or Nassarius obsoletus
Mud snails are also known by the common name of dog whelk. They are
sometimes brought to the Touch Tank by collectors who, at low tide, have found
periwinkles, small hermit crabs and slipper snail limpets in the same
environment.
Mud snails not only live in, but ingest mud in order to extract from it phytoplankton and other organic
materials. They are scavengers. By eating bits of dead animal matter they help to keep the sea
bottom clean. They are known as predators on barnacles. Mud snails can be confused with
periwinkles although mud snails have more pointy shells. Like bivalves and sponges they do not
survive long in the aquarium because there are no plankton in the circulating water.
30

NORTHERN MOON SNAIL: Lunatia heros
This snail, most often displayed in the Touch Tank as a home for a hermit crab, is
a predator on mollusks. Like the oyster drills it uses chemicals in the foot to
soften the shells of prey, and the radula to abrade the softened material. The
radula, accompanied by digestive juices, is inserted through the hole. Moon
snails can grow up to 4" across.
Behavior:
The moon snail lives under the surface of the sand where it cruises looking for prey. When its foot
is extended, it is surprisingly large making it hard to believe that the whole animal can be withdrawn
into the small shell. When fully extended, the mantle almost completely covers the shell.
Enemies:
Moon snails are preyed on by whelks that can be considerably larger, stronger and quicker in their
movements.
ATLANTIC OYSTER DRILL: Urosalpinx cinereus
One of the small snails, the oyster drill, is a formidable predator on bivalves, and particularly on
oysters. In Connecticut, oyster bed researchers have counted from one to
25 drills per square meter. It uses chemical agents in its foot to decalcify the
oyster shell and with its radula, or tongue, removes the softened material. It
applies chemicals for as long as 55 minutes, then rasps away the softened
shell. It may take eight hours to penetrate an oyster shell. After the hole is
opened, the long radula is inserted until it reaches the flesh of its prey, Digestive juices attack and
soften the tissues which are then sucked up. The hole left by Urosalpinx is widest on the outside of
the shell.
THICK-LIP DRILL: Eupleura caudata
Similar is size and habits to the Atlantic oyster drill, it is easy to confuse, but
the thick lip of the opening is unmistakable. Both drills may sometimes be
found in great numbers on oyster beds where they can be removed by
suction devices.
PHYLUM ARTHROPODA
Arthropods are characterized by having flexible appendages and their bones on the outside. Their
one-piece cuticle or exo-skeleton is mainly composed of chitin, a flexible protein that is made stiff
with calcium salts extracted from the sea water. Where there is no stiffening, the appendages or
body joints are able to bend. The material of the shell does not stretch, requiring the animal to
make a new shell from time to time, and either crawling out of the old one, or discarding it in pieces
when it is no longer useful. Arthropods may be terrestrial, freshwater or marine.
CLASS CRUSTACEA
Marine Arthropods are to be found in the class Crustacea that includes crayfish, lobsters, shrimps,
crabs, waterfleas and barnacles. Crustaceans breathe with gills and have two pairs of antenna.
Most Crustacea are scavengers, feeding mainly on dead organic matter as well as living animals.
Some also eat vegetable matter.
Although their hard shells suggest that they are insensitive, Crustacea are covered with setae, tiny
hairs that are sensitive to touch.
LOBSTER: Homarus americanus - See OTHER EXHIBITS
FLAT CLAWED HERMIT CRAB: Pagurus pollicarus
Hermit crabs are notable because their shells are as soft as the skin on one's finger. For protection
they find a vacant shell and back into it, wrapping their abdomen and tail around the
columella. To make this easier, they have lost the appendages on the right side of
the abdomen. As they grow they need larger quarters and may sometimes be seen
in the aquarium while trying on new shells for size. Terrestrial hermit crabs kept as
pets by many visitors have similar habits, but they cannot live in the water. Hermit crabs swallow
mud and detritus, excreting what is not edible.
ROCK CRAB: Cancer irroratus
The rock crab has nine blunt marginal teeth on either side of its eyes on the front edge of its
carapace. All five pairs of walking legs have sharp points so it can walk on algae
! covered rocks, but having no paddles, it cannot swim. The rock crab is
generally quiet when held on its back, and therefore makes a good
demonstration animal.
31
A pair of doors, the maxillipeds, are prominent on the anterior or front part of the ventral side of the
crab where they protect the water intake siphons and the knife- or scissor-like mandibles that break
up food. Rock crab claws are strong enough to crack mollusk shells. A favorite prey is young
oysters with thin shells. Rock crabs are edible, but have not been marketed until recently,
particularly in Northern New England.
GREEN CRAB: Carcinus maenas
The green crab has a dull green dorsal surface decorated with white designs and spots. Adult
females are red-orange underneath. Males and juveniles are yellowish. It has five marginal teeth
on each side of its eyes along the front edge of its shell and three medial teeth between its eyes.
Although it does not have paddles, the slightly flattened surfaces on its
last pair of legs allow it to swim, unlike the rock and spider crabs with
which it shares the nearshore environment. The female's tail is broad
with a point at the apex and is often dark colored against the brighter
ventral background. It makes a good exhibit. The broad tail truly looks
like the Capitol Building while the male's tail is more or less like the
Washington Monument. Visitors like this mnemonic. The green crab can be pugnacious for its size
and often remains slightly lifted on its feet with its claws spread, ready for action. This crab was not
native to the United States: introduced to the East coast some years ago from the English Channel,
it has now spread to the West Coast where it is doing well.
Volunteer George Macintyre reports that while transferring a two inch female green crab to the
touch tank, the crab suddenly molted. The carapace or back came off in one piece but the
remainder of the shell fragmented, leaving a collection of pieces in his hand. About three hours
later the crab had increased in size, by absorbing water, to three and a half inches wide. The shell
remained soft.
Another volunteer reported finding a female green crab with an egg mass tucked under her tail.
The tan colored, slightly grainy, sponge-like material was about 1/4" thick, but the edges were
smoothly even around the perimeter of the tail edge.
JONAH CRAB: Cancer borealis
The jonah crab is not often available in the Touch Tank and can easily be misidentified as a rock
crab which it resembles closely. It does, however, have a heavier body,
shorter and thicker legs and noticeably thicker pincers.
LADY CRAB: Ovalipes ocellatus
Another occasional specimen is the lady crab, sometimes known as the calico crab, that lives in
sandy areas where it can hide just below the surface. The lady crab is not
happy in the rocks where it is more vulnerable. Its shell is rounder than the
rock crab and usually lighter in color. The tannish whitish back is covered
with groups of purple spots. It has five marginal teeth on the front of the shell
on either side of the eyes. The last pair of legs has paddles, not points,
making this crab a swimmer. The crab is active, and can deliver a sharp pinch. Like the rock and
blue crabs, the lady crab is edible, but is too small to be of interest to the marketplace.
SPIDER CRAB: (Libinia emarginata ) and (Libinia dubia )
If there are six spines down the midline of the back it is L. dubia, and with nine spines it is L.
emarginata. Dubia has a large beak. Both are called decorated crabs. Their
bodies have chitinous hairs to help hold algae, anemones and bryozoans. Spider
crabs cannot swim; all their walking legs end in sharp points to allow them to
navigate slippery algae covered rocks and to hold on tightly when necessary. In
both animals, the males have longer pincers or chelae. Female tails are circular,
covering the entire space within the legs.
Spider crabs tend to wait for edibles to pass near rather than to go hunting as does the green crab.
Large specimens may dine on a sea star's arm. The sea star can detach its arm when it is
attacked, so the spider crab may not get the entire animal.
BLUE CRAB: Callinectes sapidus - See OTHER EXHIBITS
ROCK BARNACLE: Balanus balanoides
Barnacles fasten themselves to rocks, wood or to other marine animals such as horseshoe crabs
and whales. As larvae they can swim. They are attracted by chemical cues to other barnacles,
leading to large, tightly packed colonies. Once attached they can no longer move.
Vision:
Barnacles cannot see, although they react to changes in light, as when a fish
swims over the bed. They react to chemical stimuli, to touch and to
vibrations. At a loud noise, all the individuals in the bed will snap shut.
Food:
32
The most visible activity of living barnacles is movement of their cirri. Cirri, looking like hairy PHYLUM ECHINODERMATA
feathers, are derived from the six larval thoracic legs. They can be extended outside the shell and
waved in the water to snare plankton. Cirri also are used to move water into the shell cavity to aid
The spiny skinned animals known as echinodermata are sea stars, serpent or brittle stars, urchins,
respiration. Water can also be moved into the mantle by thoracic action to allow respiration without
cucumbers, and sea lilies. There are a little over 1000 species of sea stars. Rather than using the
cirric involvement.
terms dorsal and ventral to describe locations of echinoderm features, the terms used are oral for
the side with the mouth and aboral for the side opposite the mouth.
Enemies:

SEA STAR: Asterias Forbesi

When they are exposed at low tide oyster catchers and sandpipers prey on barnacles. Under
water, they are attacked by fish with strong enough jaws to crack the shells, by sea stars whose
Of the many varieties of stars, only one, the Forbes sea star is found locally. It
stomachs, pressed against the shells, produce digestive enzymes against which the barnacle has
normally has five arms, but may have fewer if it has been damaged or if it has
no defense, and by dog whelks (mud snails) whose rough radulas can rasp out the flesh after
separated an arm by itself (autotomy) in response to a predator or other danger.
probing behind the plates that cover the shell openings.

Reproduction:

Behavior:
Barnacles are hermaphrodites; each animal has both male and female characteristics, albeit they
are not self-fertile except under unusual circumstances such as trying to survive when not part of a
Sea stars do not have an internal skeleton. Instead their arms contain calcareous plates called
colony. The male inserts a long tube into an adjacent barnacle and transfers a packet of sperm.
ossicles interconnected by cartilage. The joints between ossicles allow considerable flexibility so
Fertilized eggs remain inside the shell of the female while the larvae develop, and are then expelled
that the sea stars can bend and contort to conform to whatever substrate they are lying on. They
into the water column. The immature barnacle is an aggressive predator during its first larval stage,
use their tube feet to hold tightly. In the aquarium they appear to be motionless, but in the wild they
after which it looks for a suitable habitat and settles down by gluing its head end to a clean, solid
move about searching for prey. Occasionally one in the Touch Tank will cruise about, and it is
substrate. Larvae are encouraged to settle in or near an existing barnacle bed because they are
surprising to watch how fast it is able to go. When a sea star moves, it stays attached to the
attracted by pheromones produced by the established colony. Barnacle beds may develop on
bottom, crawling down and up rather than bridging a gap.
shoreside rocks, pilings, wharfs or on movable objects such as whales, horseshoe crabs or ships
bottoms and propellers. Respiration:

Growth habits: Sea stars breathe through skin gills, called papules, that ring the bases of the protective hard white
spines on the upper surface of the body. Cilia around the openings of the gills bring fresh water and
After the larva finds a site to settle, it cements its head end to the substrate and then begins to
help oxygen and carbon dioxide to diffuse in and out. Respiration also takes place through the
produce shell plates. The open end of the cone shaped shell is fitted with two pairs of movable
surfaces of the tube feet. Between the spines on the aboral surface are pedicellarias, projections
plates that may be closed for protection or to prevent dehydration during low tide, and opened to
that resemble tube feet. Pincers on the ends can remove debris and small animals or plants that
allow the cirri to be extended. As the animal grows it adds shell around the base. Thus older
might interfere with breathing. Cilia on the skin also keep water moving to keep debris, dirt and
individuals are taller and broader. The movable plates are shed and replaced from time to time as
microscopic organisms off the surface. Irritating toxins can also be secreted to discourage visitors.
needed.
[Invert a sea star on a hairy forearm for a minute or two while the tube feet are being extended on
the oral surface and the pedicells will grasp the hairs].
Barnacles that are uncovered periodically by the tides are smaller than those remaining fully
covered. Size is also affected, up to a point, by the speed of water current past the beds. Too rapid
Locomotion:
current, however, will sweep food out of their grasp.
On the under or oral side of each arm is the ambulacral groove. It is not prominent when the animal
is relaxed, but as the muscular plates protecting the groove are withdrawn sideways, the line
becomes darker and the tube feet can protrude. Tube feet are hollow muscular elements inside the

33
body connected to bulbous containers that hold sea water. When the containers, (ampullae) are
squeezed, the tube feet extend. When the bulb at the end of a tube foot touches something hard, a
muscle inside can be withdrawn to form a sucker or suction cup. Depending on the substrate,
specialized cells called duocells on the tube feet secrete an underwater glue (and respectively a
glue release) and with these suction cups the sea star can hold tightly enough to prevent being
dislodged by wave action. Besides their holding action, the tube feet are for locomotion. Each tube
foot can be moved independently by means of muscles on its outside surface. Coordinated
movement and alternate suction and withdrawal of the tube feet allow the sea star to move slowly
towards food or into safe resting places. The arm that points in the direction of movement is the
head. If there is a sideways shift of direction, the newly pointing arm acts as the head. The orange
spot (madreporite) on the upper surface of the sea star's central disk is part of the ambulacral
system. It is a fine sieve or filter comprised of a porous calcareous plate that keeps solids out when
more water is needed in the vascular system.
the chances for fertilization in the open water column are increased. Fertile eggs that survive
eventually develop into larvae and then into infant sea stars.
Enemies:
Sea stars appear to have few enemies. A few fish can crunch the arms. Spider crabs are fond of
sea stars, but usually must be satisfied with one arm because, when the sea star is seized, it can
separate the arm that is being attacked (autotomy) and thereby escape.
PURPLE SEA URCHIN: Arabacia punctulata - See OTHER EXHIBITS
ORANGE FOOTED SEA CUCUMBER: Cucumaria frondosa - see OTHER EXHIBITS

Food:

Sea stars move around to find food: fish, oysters, mussels, barnacles, clams, snails, worms,
crustacea and carrion. They can take small bivalves inside through the mouth and spit out the
empty shells. Barnacles can be eaten if the extended stomach is placed against the shell openings
to pre-digest the flesh. When a sea star fastens to a bivalve it may, but does not have to, exert
force to pull open the shells. The holding force (not the pulling force) available has been measured
up to 1350 grams. Sometimes clams gape rapidly. In fact, gape is not always necessary as there
may be small openings along the edges of the shells through which digestive juices or the stomach
itself may be inserted. Even without force being applied, bivalves gape when the internal
concentration of carbon dioxide gets too high. A sea star that has just eaten may have an
extended central area, as if it had swallowed a marble.

Vision:

A pigmented mass of cells at the end of each arm is known as the eye. It is a light perceiving organ
that does not make images. Small tentacles surrounding the eye mass, sensitive to chemicals
(taste), to touch and to vibrations are used when the sea star is cruising in search of food. The
more important sensory organs, however, are the tube feet. The papules may also be sensitive,
particularly to chemicals.

Reproduction:

Sea stars may be male or female, but this is not detectable from outside. Rising spring
temperatures seem to induce spawning accompanied by pheromone production that encourages
others to join in the process. Females may produce 2,500,000 eggs during the season. Untold
quantities of gametes (male and female components) are, therefore, expelled at the same time and

34
 PHYLUM XIPHOSURA the fourth and one annually thereafter until quite old. If you pinch gently inside one edge, you can
feel that recently molted shells are leathery and flexible while older ones are hard and stiff.

HORSESHOE CRAB: Limulus polyphemus

Behavior:

The horseshoe crab has a distinctive shape consisting of head, thorax and telson (sometimes
Limulus behavior that would be voluntary in humans and many other animals is modulated by
prosoma, opisthosoma and telson). These same names are used to describe different parts on
circadian rhythms or internal clocks. For example, the compound eyes can become more sensitive
other animals. The horseshoe crab is given its own phylum in which there are only four species
at night than in daylight because of circadian rhythms. Migration to and from deeper water is a
(three of which are found only in the Indo-Pacific region). Biologists consider
similarly programmed activity. Research on circadian rhythms is taking place at Woods Hole
Limulus not to be related to other animals but to be closest, in evolutionary terms,
Oceanographic Institute.
to the lines that became spiders and scorpions.

Vision:
There are six pairs of appendages. The first, the chelicerae, are located ahead of
the mouth and bristles, four are for walking, the last for pushing. The toes of the
Limulus sees movement with its lateral compound eyes, but does not make a sharp image. Under
male's second pair have been modified by the addition of large muscles or
water it can distinguish between a rock and another horseshoe crab within three feet. The eyes
claspers that are used during spawning. Males do not have claspers until they
may be 1,000,000 times more sensitive at night than during the day. The ocelli, pigmented spots on
are six years old.
either side of the small boss near the center front of the head (prosoma) can see ultra-violet light.
Ultra violet helps the horseshoe crab to adjust the accuracy of its internal clocks. Light sensitive
Range:
cells in the tail have nerve connections to the brain, but cannot be located visually on the surface.

Limulus exists along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Yucatan. From Georgia to Delaware Bay is
Reproduction:
the center of the range and here the animals are bigger and more abundant. Cape Cod bay also
supports a notably large population. In winter Limulus inhabits deep water off the Atlantic coast or
Spawning: Limulus males reach sexual maturity at about 9 years, females a year later. Eggs may
in bays, coming ashore to spawn on protected beaches only when the water is warm enough.
be laid any time between April and August, depending on the water temperature. The animals leave
deep water and head for the beaches. Spawning activity peaks at night at times of full and new
Age:
moons when water rises highest on the beach. Fertile males will clasp unattended fertile females
and remain until eggs have been deposited in a nest. More than one male may clasp in a train.
Horseshoe crabs may live to 18 years, but this is unusual; 14 or 15 years is more likely.

Egg Laying:
Diet:

Females hold their eggs beneath the gill plate cover (the operculum) until they release them in the
Limulus eats worms, larval animals, eggs and carrion as well as some algae. It also eats small
nest. Eggs are laid under water or in damp sand. The favored location for excavating nests
mollusks such as hard and soft clams that can be cracked between the bases of the pushers (sixth
depends on how high the tide rises and the geometry of the beach. Large females may deposit
pair of legs). Softer materials are broken up by the bristles at the bases of the first four pairs of
2000 eggs at a time and may make more than one nest on the same day, or may lay at other times
walking legs. The animal also ingests bits of shell and sand which act as grinders inside the gut.
and in other locations.
The hard materials may be expelled through the mouth. Soft waste passes through the gut and is
expelled through an anus located at the base of the muscle that controls the telson.
Fertilization:

Size:
Males release sperm into the water. Since there are many unattached, sexually excited males
when eggs are being laid, sperm released in the water by the primary male and others is washed
When they mature fully, females may measure 24" across. Males at every age are smaller than
over the nests by wave action.
females and may never reach half that size. As noted below, the larva molts three times inside the
egg and twice more outside. In the second year there are three molts, two in the third year, one in

35
 1st year 3rd 5th 7th Adult Male Adult Female

Egg Development: Width 1/2" 1 1/2 2 3 1/3 7 1/4 8 3/4

In the laboratory, eggs take about 45 days to hatch at a temperature of 60° F and about 25 days at Length (including telson) 3/4 2 3/4 3 3/4 5 1/2 14 17 1/4
72°. On the beach, eggs hatch in 13-15 days. The egg has two coverings. The chorion or tough
outside layer protects the egg in the sand, but breaks as the embryo grows. There are three (some Blood:
say four) molts inside the egg, the shed parts being absorbed and reused. The greenish eggs
measure about 1/16" when laid and grow to about 1/8" by the time the inner case breaks and the Limulus blood cells contain hemocyanin, a copper bearing molecule. Hemocyanin is blue when
animal becomes free-swimming. oxygenated, colorless when oxygen-free. Human blood that contains iron, not copper, is red when
oxygenated. A chamber surrounding the heart contains about 25% of the animal's blood supply.
Predation: This chamber can be drained and the blood collected without harm. The blood is replaced in due
course. Collected horseshoe crab blood is treated (lysed) to rupture the blood cells (amebocytes).
Horseshoe crab eggs are eaten by many animals as soon as they are laid. Gulls, sandpipers, fish, Solid materials are discarded and the liquid remainder is dried. The product (the lysate) is a white
crabs, sea stars, snails, all gorge on the eggs either in the nest or when washed out into the water. powder. Limulus Amebocyte Lysate indicator forms clots with gram negative bacteria thereby acting
In particular the Red Knot, a sandpiper, flies 3500 miles from Brazil to arrive for a feast of 135,000 as a sensitive, rapid test for the presence of endotoxins which, in human blood, can cause
or so horseshoe crab eggs before flying an additional 2500 miles north to its Canadian nesting potentially fatal high fevers and infections.
grounds. [On its return flight in August and September, the Red Knot stops in James Bay, Canada
for burrowing clams, in Massachusetts for mussel spat in the weed and peat beds, and in hospitable
areas in New Jersey as well.]

Growth:

First Year: Once out of its egg in its first swimming stage the animal is described as trilobite. It looks
similar to the fossil animals of that name. The trilobite is transparent, swims mostly on its back and
measures about 1/8" across. Its eyes are on the underside just in front of the mouth. After about
three weeks Limulus enters its first juvenile stage, but this may be delayed much longer. It will have
grown to about 3/16" and have a short tail (telson) and a translucent shell. It may spend part of its
time walking and may also begin to burrow in the bottom. In the second juvenile stage the telson
becomes longer and pigmentation begins. Around Cape Cod most Limulus reach this stage by the
end of summer, and burrow deep for the winter.

Second Year: The animal may be expected to molt three times during this year, each time with
more pigment in the new shell. While it will continue to swim mostly on its back, the ventral or
underside eyes, being now covered with pigmented shell are no longer useful . When it buries itself
for the second winter it will measure 11/4 " wide and 2 1/8" long.

Third Year and Thereafter: Size increases about 1/4 to 1/3 at each molt so that at the end of the
third year the breadth will be 11/2 ", length 2 3/4" and at the end of the fourth year 13/4" and slightly
over 3" respectively.

Both sexes measure about the same for the first few years as shown below:

36
 INANIMATE EXHIBITS IN THE TOUCH TANK
CLEAR NOSED SKATE EGG CASES: Raja eglanteria
The dark colored, horned egg cases, sometimes called Mermaid's Purses are referred to as Devil's
Pocket Books in a text dated 1901. However named, they are soft and
flexible when produced. The posterior end is covered with an adhesive that
keeps the case attached to rocks or algae for the 90 days or so in which the
single egg develops into a complete but tiny, skate. At the end of development, an enzyme forms
that dissolves the adhesive between the plates at the anterior end of the case and allows the infant
to push its way out. Egg cases in the Touch Tank that open when squeezed from the sides have
been used successfully. Others either were not fertile, or did not go to full term. Some egg cases
may contain yolk or developing embryos, depending on the season. Other skates produce cases
of different sizes, and some sharks have similarly shaped, but considerably larger, cases.
ATLANTIC JACKKNIFE or RAZOR CLAM: Ensis directus
Razor clams live in the sand. Because they are difficult to capture they are not likely to be seen
alive anywhere except in the fish market. They are bivalves and
share characteristics with others in the family.
BAY SCALLOP: Aequipecten irradians
The bay scallop is found around Norwalk in only small quantities. The bay scallop is a swimmer, or
at least, does not attach itself firmly for most of its life as do many other bivalves.
The scallop can move by taking in water and expelling it as a jet by bringing its
shells together with extra force. The abductor muscle that does the work is sold
in the market. The bay scallop muscle is about 1/2" in diameter. The larger sea
scallop found in the market is from deep water and is a cousin.
STAR CORAL: Astrangea danae
Star coral polyps form mats on solid surfaces such as rocks. While the mats in the water may be
twelve feet or more across, they are not likely to be more than 1/2 or 3/4" thick.
In the Touch Tank, coral is most likely to be in the form of the corallite or lime
skeletons that have remained after the polyps have died.
OTHER EXHIBITS
COMMON LOBSTER: Homarus americanus
Lobsters are not displayed in the Touch Tank because they are easily killed by too much stress from
being handled. Blue lobsters are frequently displayed, leading to visitor's
questions. The blue color is caused by a lack of brown pigment in the shell.
A mutation sometimes causes the animal to have a blue shell throughout its
lifetime, but more often, it is a dietary factor. If a lobster does not eat
anything containing chitin, such as shrimps or other lobsters, the brown color
does not appear in the new shell on molting.
Age:
Lobsters are known to live for 50 years, although that is not common. Larger animals are likely to
live in deep waters where they are not so easily trapped or netted. The large lobsters sometimes
exhibited in the aquarium are certainly decades old but there is no way to determine the age by
looking at them. A rule of thumb is the 1st pound takes 5 years and additional pounds take three
years each.
Behavior:
Lobsters live at the bottom where they walk forward with their five pairs of legs. They swim
backward using their tails for propulsion. They seek out holes between and under rocks into which
they back carefully, and wait for food to come by.
Vision:
Lobster eyes are formed with segmented facets that both react to light and produce a mosaic
image, much like the horseshoe crab. This vision is particularly well suited for sensing motion. As
with many other arthropods, parts of the lobster body are covered with sensitive hairs that not only
can feel, but are chemically sensitive. Lobsters do not hear.
Food:
Lobsters are carnivorous scavengers. They will eat anything they can find, whether living or dead.
They can crack or smash bivalve shells, snail shells, crabs and smaller lobsters. One claw is
specialized for crushing, the other for cutting. They are important factors in keeping the sea bottom
clear of dead matter. They do not have teeth to chew with but have ossicles in one chamber of the
stomach that break up food into tiny particles that then can be digested.
37
Enemies:
Large lobsters don't have enemies, but newborns and small animals are prey for anything larger.
Like the crabs, lobsters can autotomize, meaning they can break one of the joints of a walking leg
that may be damaged or caught by a predator and thereby escape. The leg will regenerate without
molting.
Reproduction:
Lobsters have two sexes. In spawning sperm are transferred to the outside of the female near the
external oviduct and eggs are fertilized as they emerge. The female has her duct at the base of the
third legs and the male at the base of the fifth. This is visible in living lobsters. Before laying eggs,
the female covers her swimmerets with a sticky substance to which emerging eggs adhere. They
remain aerated by the movements of the swimmerets until they hatch after which they become free
swimming larvas.
Internal curiosities:
Lobster blood is colorless.
BLUE CRAB: Calinectes sapidus
Blue crabs are not exhibited in the Touch Tank because they are aggressive and their pinches often
draw blood. Blue crabs are swimmers. Their last pair of legs has blue
pigmented paddles, not points. Their shells are broad with a point at each
end, making even small ones a difficult mouthful for predacious fish. Blue
crabs are scavengers although they will also catch and crush snails and
other prey that is small enough to be handled. They are easily caught or
trapped with fish heads or chicken parts. Crab catching is a wonderful way to spend a day with a
youngster. Blue crabs are important in the market, both as hard shell and soft shell. The soft shell
crabs will have just molted, and are quickly sent to market under special conditions before the shells
harden, which they will within a few days in the wild. Female blue crabs have red points on their
claws.
PURPLE SEA URCHIN: Arabacia punctulata
Sea urchins are not usually kept in the Touch Tank because they are delicate. Their brittle spines
break easily. Sea urchins have tube feet that keep the urchin in place, and allow it
to move while grazing on algae. There are some tube feet without suckers
surrounding the mouth. On the aboral surface are pedicellarias that help keep the
animal clean. Sea urchins are omniverous. They eat both plant and animal matter,
both living and dead. Unlike sea stars, the ossicles of sea urchins are firmly
attached to each other, making the skeleton or test a more or less spherical shell. Tube feet, mouth
parts and other features extend through holes in the ossicles. What appear to be bumps on the test
are sockets for the spines, each of which has its own muscular system and can be moved
independently. The spines are protective devices. Spines of urchins that live in warmer waters, are
longer, sharper and fitted with barbs that make them difficult to remove if they pierce flesh.
Their strong 5 toothed jaw structure is known as Aristotle’s Lantern. Some species will use those
teeth to carve a holding pocket into softer rock. They also possess a primitive form of vision from
eye spots distributed over the surface. The resulting view is an array which can provide directional
clues for detecting movement as well as relative size for determining prey versus predator.
One predator is the sunflower sea star. This large, fast carnivore (up to ~1m) will swallow the urchin
whole and spit out the test.
ORANGE FOOTED SEA CUCUMBER: Cucumaria frondosa
Sea cucumbers are not kept in the Touch Tank because one of their most important characteristics
is that when highly aroused, they can regurgitate their interior organs by means
of strong muscular contractions. The organs are regenerated over time.
Although specimens are brought in from various places, the most common sea
cucumber in this area, and probably the one most often on display is the Orange
Footed whose Latin name is noted above. Known as holothuridae or
holothurians, the sea cucumbers are characterized by having mouths surrounded
by tentacles at one end and the excretory opening at the other. They have tube feet similar to those
of the sea star arranged in lines along the length of the body. By holding on and using body
muscles in wave-like movements sea cucumbers are able to relocate slowly. Protection from
predators is provided by a tough skin and calcareous plates.
Sea cucumbers feed on organic particles contained in mud or sand that they ingest. They also eat
plankton gathered by sticky material on the mouth tentacles. In the aquarium the sea cucumbers
are fed ground shrimp.
38
References:

Buchsbaum, Ralph, Animals Without Backbones U of Chicago Press, Revised 1948

Englemann, Joseph G., and Hegner, Robert W, Invertebrate Zoology, 3rd Ed. Macmillan l981

French, Kathleen A., "Laboratory Culture of Embryonic and Juvenile Limulus" Marine Biological
Laboratories, Woods Hole, MA

Gosner, Kenneth L., A Field Guide to the Atlantic Seashore, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1978

Hedeen, Robert A., The Oyster, Tidewater Publications, 1986, Centreville, MD 21617

Jacobson, Morris J. and Emerson, William K., Shells of the New York City Area, Argonaut Books,
Mamaroneck, NY 1961

Kennedy, V.S., R.I.E. Newell and A.F. Eble, The Eastern Oyster, Maryland Sea Grant College, 1996,
College Park, MD

LAL Update, Cape Cod Associates, Inc.

Lawlor, Elizabeth P. Discovering Nature at the Seashore, Stackpole Books, 1992 Scientific
American

Sekiguchi, Koichi, Editor, Biology of Horseshoe Crabs, Science House Co., Ltd. Tokyo 1988

Shuster, Carl N. Jr., Xiphosurida, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology

Weiss, Howard M., Marine Animals of Southern New England and New York, State Geological and
Natural History Service of Connecticut, 1995

Cape Cod Life

Time Magazine

Revised February 14, 2013

39
Section 4
Ocean Beyond the Sound
The dark hallway down to this exhibit represents “The Race,” the area at the eastern end of Long
Island Sound where the relatively shallow and warm Sound waters drop off to mix with the deeper,
colder waters of the open ocean. This transitional zone is rich in marine life from both
environments.
SHARKS
When did the first sharks come about? About 450 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era, the
Caldoselache existed. This is millions of years before the first dinosaur.
How many species of shark are there? There are over 368 different species of sharks, skates, and
ray.
Are sharks part of the Vertebrate family? Yes, they do have a backbone made of cartilage.
How many types of fish are there? First, there are two types of fish. Bony fish (Osteichthyes)
which account for 95% of all fish. The other type is the cartilaginous (Chondrychthys) which make
up the other 5%.
What type of fish is a shark? They are members of the cartilaginous family, meaning that their
skeletons are made of cartilage, as is found in your nose.
Are there other types of cartilaginous fish? Yes, there are two sub sets. The first is the
Elasmobranchi (sharks, skates and rays) which have multi gill slits, and then there are the
Holocephali (Chimeras).
What benefit is there to being cartilaginous? The skeleton assists in buoyancy and flexibility.
However, because they are not bone, they decay rapidly, leaving few remains or fossils.
How well do sharks swim? Efficiently, to say the least. Most are very well adapted for swimming.
The tail (caudal fin) provides most of the power. Tails vary in size from 20% of the body length
(angel sharks) to over 100% (thresher sharks). The dorsal fin is rigid and used to stabilize roll.
The pectoral fin is used to plane, lift, and maneuver. The dermal denticles on the skin help prevent
drag, by creating laminar flow over the body.
Do they have any swimming shortcomings? Yes. For one thing, they cannot swim backwards.
Many must work at maintaining their buoyancy.
How do they maintain buoyancy? In several ways. One key factor is with their liver, which can be
as much as 25% of their body weight. The liver produces oil, which is lighter than water, thus
helping them float. Another way, often used by our sand tiger sharks, is to gulp air. Fin formation
also helps.
How fast do sharks swim? It depends on the activity. The blue shark has been clocked at 43+
miles per hour while feeding. Our sharks cruise at about 3-4 miles per hour.
How big and small do sharks grow? The largest shark today is the whale shark, which can reach a
length of 50+ feet. The smallest one is the dwarf dogfish, who when mature measures in at a
whopping 7 inches long from nose to tail.
How long do they live? In the wild, we don’t know. By tagging sharks we have come to estimate
that the average life span is approximately 25 years. However, a big exception is the spiny
dogfish, which has been known to live over 100 years. The sandbar sharks that we have can
average 30 years.
Is it easy to tell their age? No, it is very hard to determine age without having to dissect one.
Shark species grow differently from one to the other and since they have no bones or scales,
growth patterns do not exist.
Do they live longer in captivity? Since we cannot tell how long they live in the wild it is very hard to
determine if they live longer in captivity.
What is their skin like? In one word, unique. It is very tough and very abrasive. It is made up of
dermal denticles, which is what their teeth are also made up. Denticles to not grow, but new ones
that replace the predecessor are often larger. The skin is so rough, that one can be hurt just by
40
being bumped and rubbed by a passing shark. Dried shark skin was once used as a type of sand
paper.
How many teeth do sharks have? That number will vary by species, with some having no teeth at
all to some that have hundreds of teeth growing at once. The teeth are embedded in their gums
and not in their jaw, as found in other fish or man. They are constantly replacing the oldest row of
teeth with a new row. Some sharks may shed up to 30,000 teeth in a lifetime. Teeth are normally
replaced, on average, every six months, but some sharks replace them every 8-10 days. Teeth can
also help in determining the size of a shark, since the size of the tooth is normally directly
associated with the overall size of the shark.
How often do they eat? In the wild, it varies greatly from days to weeks. Ours are currently (2013)
fed on daily to help prevent midnight snacks on other members of the Open Ocean Tank. Sharks
are capable of varying the rate at which their food is absorbed by use of their unique spiral valve.
Where are sharks found? Sharks are found in all the oceans of the World, in the shallows of Long
Island Sound to the depths of the ocean.
Are sharks found only in Salt Water? You would like to read yes, but there are several species that
are known to live in fresh water, such as the bull shark. One such animal was found in the
Mississippi River near St. Louis.
Do sharks get sick? Yes, they are subject to a wide variety of problems just like man. One sand
tiger shark that died at the Annapolis aquarium was found to have been infested with tapeworms
and roundworms as well as having a diseased liver and two possible tumors.
What are baby sharks called? They are called pups.
How many are normally born at one time? This varies by species, so it could be only one, but could
be up to 100.
How do they reproduce? Sharks have been successful throughout the years, partially because of
their reproductive process. This includes internal fertilization, maternal nourishment of embryos,
and large pups at birth, some of which can weigh as much as 30-40 pounds and be 3 feet long.
Many sharks reach sexual maturity near the age of 15 and may reproduce only every other year.
There are three types of reproduction in sharks.
• One is live bearing (placental viviparity) where the embryo is attached to the mother by an
umbilical cord and receives nourishment and provides for the elimination of waste. The female
may carry from 2 to 135 pups. The blue shark has the record of 135 known embryos.
• Laying of external egg cases (oviparity). These develop on their own, dependent on the yolk
reserves for nutrition. The eggs are usually large (1-2 inches). The whale shark eggs can be
quite large and the pup, when born, be approximately 14 inches long. Since the eggs are laid
externally, there is no protection offered from outside predators.
• Laying of internal egg cases (ovoviparity). The eggs actually develop within the uterus until
development is complete but are not attached to the mother in any way. This is the most
common reproductive process found in sharks. It afford shelter and protection during the
development process. Some species of shark will have the pups hatch within the uterus. These
pups require nutrition and will actually consume the newer eggs the mother continues to lay
throughout gestation. This process is Oophagy. (Great whites, makos, threshers, sand tigers
are just a few of the know oophagous sharks. The sand tiger is only known shark who’s pups are
embryophagous or intrauterine cannibals. They will actually consume the smaller pups, just
hatched, once all the smaller pups are gone, they will eat all the available eggs the mother
produces. Because of this cannibalistic process, the sand tiger will only bear one pup per uterus.
The record for the longest gestation period of any vertebrate is 22-24 months, held by the spiny
dogfish. The elephant is 22 months maximum.
Shark attacks? Of the over 368 species of sharks, very few have ever been recorded as attacking
man. The most dangerous species are: Great whites, tiger sharks (not sand tigers), bull sharks,
white tip reef sharks, hammerheads, makos, lemon sharks, and black tip reef sharks.
How many people die from shark attacks? There are about 30 fatal attacks a year, Worldwide.
Compare this to the 50 deaths each year attributable to snake bites, just in Brazil alone, makes the
number of shark attacks seem very small. In fact, more people are killed each year by domestic
pigs than sharks.
Do sharks have any enemies? Yes, and the biggest one is MAN. The shark harvest has increased
in the USA from 500 tons in 1980 to 750,000 tons in 1989. This equates to approximately 150
million sharks. Shark catching tournaments are held all over the World. In the NY/NJ area alone,
there are as many as two tournaments a week.
Are there any benefits to Man? Besides being a food source, sharks have assisted man in many
ways, but it is in the area of medical research that they have proven extremely beneficial.
• Extracts of shark cartilage are used as temporary skin for burn victims.
• Shark eye corneas have been transplanted into Humans.
• Cancer research.
41
================================================================

OPEN OCEAN TANK FACTS

Approximately 110,000 gallons

The glass is 4.5 inches thick of baked acrylic and weighs 50,000 lbs.

Artificial rocks to maintain the environment

3 feet of gravel

22 feet deep and 45 feet across

Water is filtered 17 times a day

Salt water is not from the Sound but is manufactured on site.

================================================================

The Feeding Schedule for the Open Ocean Exhibit varies depending up on consumption and may
change from day to day.

42
Section 5
Marine Mammals
The pinnipeds, which means “feather or fin footed,” are the most visible of the marine
mammals because of their large size and their frequenting coastal areas where they rest
and sun themselves. Like other mammals, they breathe air, are warm blooded and nurse
their young, which are called pups. All seals, sea lions, and walruses are pinnipeds.
The three families of pinnipeds can be distinguished by their external features. Sea lions
and fur seals have small external ear flaps and are able to support their bodies and move
on land using their front and rear flippers. These animals are representative of the “eared”
seals, so called because they possess an obvious ear flap, or pinna. True seals have no
external ear flaps and are unable to
support their body weight with their
flippers. Harbor seals have no external-
ear flaps, so they are considered true
seals, as are the elephant seals. The
third group of pinnipeds are the
walruses. They are distinguished by
their tusks and mustache-like array of
whiskers on their upper lip.
There are approximately 35 species within the three families of pinnipeds. They are found
in all the oceans of the world, and a few are isolated in inland waters. Their primary
habitat is in temperate and polar waters.
A. Harbor Seals
Harbor seals belong to the family of true seals, which also includes the elephant seals.
These seals lack the external ear pinna and have fairly restricted movement on land.
Their hind limbs do not protrude from the body trunk above the ankle therefore they
cannot rotate under the body when on land but instead drag behind. The forelimbs are
relatively small and do not support the upper body well. As a result, a seal’s movement on
land consists of flopping along on its belly. This contrasts sharply with the upright mobility
of the fur seal on land. In the water, the hind limbs propel the harbor seal along. When
held close to each other, they may act in tandem in a sculling motion.
Harbor seals inhabit the ocean shores of both
the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in the northern
hemisphere. They appear to be less nomadic
than other pinnipeds. They stay close to shore
and often haul out on sandbars in bays and
estuaries, feeding mainly on small fish,
mollusks, and crustaceans in near-shore waters.
Atlantic harbor seals are found in Long Island
Sound from December through March.
Pollution and habitat destruction still pose
threats. But there is evidence that the reappearance of seals speaks well for the
environment. It reflects an improved habitat and an improvement in in-shore fisheries —
they could not eat otherwise.
With an increase in population there have been more strandings. The Mystic Marine life
Aquarium is licensed by The National Marine Fisheries Bureau to handle strandings in
Connecticut and Rhode Island. On the New York side of Long Island Sound, The
Okeanos Ocean Research Foundation, in Hampton Bays, Long Island, responds to
strandings. Both report that strandings are on the rise. According to Judy Raab, Director
of Administration for the research foundation the number of stranding have been
increasing over the last three years. The Okeanos foundation has a rehabilitation center
where stranded whales and seals are placed. As of the end of December 1992 the
holding pens were full and cases of distemper are becoming more common as population
increases. While you may want to help a stranded seal you shouldn’t touch them. Seals
are mammals and can transmit disease, and they do bite.
43
While the appearance of seals around lobster pots may worry some fishermen, research
has show that seals do not raid lobster pots. There is a widespread misconception among
lobster men that harbor seals eat lobsters, but scientists have proven that it is not true.
While some experts fear that an increase in the seal population may cause fishermen to
mount a campaign and take population control into their own hands, Connecticut has not
received any complaints from fishermen.
Little scientific information exists on harbor seals in Long Island Sound. Robert Nawojchik,
a biologist at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium, has begun an informal survey of seals at the
eastern end of Long Island Sound. His survey is in response to an increase in sightings by
fishermen and others. Mr. Nawojchik plans to publish his survey results, which he hopes
will lead to financing for more formal studies.
B. Fur Seals
These animals are representative of the “eared” seals, so called because they possess an
obvious ear flap, or pinna. They can rotate their
hind limbs forward to rest underneath them and
support their bodies. Their forelimbs are relatively
large and strong enough to allow them to hold their
upper bodies erect; they can move fairly well on
land. Northern fur seals have very fine, rich fur that
keeps them dry and warm. The large male is dark
brown, and the smaller female is dark gray. The
northern fur seal is found from Baja California to the Bering Sea, and rarely comes on
land, except to breed. Each year 50,000 seals are killed on the Pribilof Islands in the
Bering Sea.
C. Sea Lions
The California sea lion’s closest terrestrial relatives are the bear and dog. These animals
are also representative of the “eared” seals. The sea lion’s forelimbs are modified into
flippers, which it uses to “fly” through the water. The hind
limbs are also flipper-like, though much less powerful, and
the sea lion possesses a short stub of a tail. The sea lion’s
tawny, sleek form is evidence of the streamlining that evolved
for ease of swimming. A layer of blubber beneath the skin
provides insulation against the cold ocean water.
D. Elephant Seal
The elephant seal is the largest of the pinnipeds. Males may be over 6 meters long.
Females are much smaller, reaching 3.5 meters. The most
prominent feature of the male elephant seal is its enlarged
nose, or proboscis, which is a secondary sex characteristic.
As the male becomes sexually mature. the nose begins to
grow, achieving full development at, it is thought, eight to
ten years of age. During mating season, the nose is used as
a display organ while adult males (in the posture shown)
bellow challenges at each other. For many of the pinnipeds, mating season involves very
complex social interactions.
E. Walruses
The walrus is found in the cold, northern waters of both the Atlantic and Pacific, near the
edge of the Arctic ice pack. The male walrus may reach a length
of 3.6 meters, and the female is only slightly smaller. Both
sexes possess prominent ivory tusks. These enlarged teeth
were once thought to serve as digging devices for rooting out
shellfish from the bottom. However, more recent evidence
suggests they use their broad muzzle for this chore, with the
stiff whiskers serving as tactile sensory devices that detect prey.
It now appears that tusk length may be related to social status.
At birth the walrus has a thin coat of reddish hair; the skin of adults is nearly smooth. The
walrus relies on a blubber layer for warmth; it spends much of its time hauled out on ice
floes where it sleeps and rests. These large animals have only one major predator besides
humans—the polar bear, which eats mainly young walruses. The Pacific walrus population
has enjoyed a remarkable recovery from its slaughter by hunters in the nineteenth and
early twentieth century, but it is still very vulnerable to human predation.
44
OTTERS foods include fish, crayfish, clams, mussels, frogs, turtles, insects, birds, and small
mammals. Otters can consume up to 20% of their body weight daily (Duplaix-Hall, 1975)
The North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is the largest member of a family of have a very high metabolic rate and generally pass whatever has been eaten within one to
animals known as the mustelids or weasels. This group also includes fishers, badgers, three hours (Reed, 1995).
skunks, stoats, minks, ferrets, polecats and
martins. Otters are found across all
freshwater areas of the planet and the
population in Connecticut (approx. 1500) is
large enough to support a restricted harvest.
Gallery 3.1 Marine Mammals
Trapping season in Connecticut occurs from
November 3rd to mid-March with a limit of 8
otters per season, per trapper. During 1994
to 1995 over 200 otters were taken in
Connecticut, but the average is 100 to 130 (Rego, Furbearer Biologist - CT D.E.P.). The
otter is characterized by having short legs with webbed feet, a long and slender body with
a thick, somewhat flattened rudder-like tail, dense brown fur which is generally lighter in
color along the throat and belly, prominent whiskers and nose pad, small ears and eyes
located near the top of the skull which allow them to see above water while largely
submerged. The average length for the otter is 110 - 153 cm ( 4 - 5 feet) (Harris, 1968).
The average weight being 5 -15 kg. (11 - 33 lbs.) (Hall, 1981) with males being
approximately 17% heavier than females (Melquist & Hornocker, 1983). Although they
have developed characteristics that appear to be advanced, the otter is one of the most
primitive land dwelling carnivores whose fossil record dates as far back as the Upper
Oligocene, approximately 30 million years ago (Anonymous, High Desert Museum).

Both males and females are sexually mature around two years of age. Estrous in females
occurs in early spring and last 42 to 46 days with receptive peaks occurring approximately
every six days. Otters are induced ovulators and experience delayed implantation (Reed,
1995). Total gestation is 245-360 days (Duplaix-Hall, 1975) while the actual gestation is
60-63 days (Lancia and Hair, 1983). Litter sizes range from 1-6 pups with 2-3 being most
common. Pups are blind and toothless at birth, and their eyes do no open until they are at Harbor Seals prefer the solitary life. In Monterey they spend the night
least three weeks old. At the age of two to three months, the pups are weaned and begin
gorging on fish and haul out on the rocks for a nap in the early morning
hours.
to leave the den and are introduced to water. The pups will stay with the female for about
one year before dispersing to establish their own territories. Longevity in the wild is 10-15
years with an unexplained increase in mortality occurring at 3-5 years (Polechla, 1989).
Longevity in captivity has been reported as long as 25 years (Melquiest and Dronkert,
1987). The principal source of food for the otter depends on the time of year, what is most
abundant and what can be secured with the least amount of energy expended. Primary

45
Chapter 4

The
Collection

Our live collection is an ever changing group with

300 to 400 separate species, each with a unique
story and special abilities. Learning what makes
each one special is part of the “rewards” that come
with the job. Many have different dietary
requirements, just imagine the demands of the
kitchen!
Section 1
Collections - Harbor Seals
The Maritime Aquarium's Harbor Seals
The seals at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk were either born in captivity or found
helpless and stranded in the wild. We have seven females. Each has its own distinctive
physical and behavioral characteristics. They become easier to recognize the more time
you spend at the Seal Pool.
Susie was found in 1973 in the area around the Gulf of Maine. She lived at Mystic
Marinelife Aquarium until 1988, when she came to The Maritime Aquarium. She has one
offspring in the pool -- Tillie.
Tillie was born at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in May of 1986. Tillie’s feeding/training
position is on the outer edge of the high rock. Tillie is one of Susie’s offspring.
Polly was also born at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium in 1987. It is not known if she is
related to any of the other Maritime Aquarium seals. Polly came here in June of 1994.
Her feeding/training position is on the upper rocks next to Tillie.
Leila was found as a stranded pup south of Portland Light in Maine in June of 1988.
She was believed to be just days old. Leila was treated for malnutrition at New England
Aquarium in Boston before coming to us in January of 1989. Her feeding/training
location is to the left on the low rocks.
Orange came to us from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in February, 2005. She was
born in 1982 and found as a stranded pup in New England and rehabilitated at the
National Aquarium in Baltimore. She lived at the Shedd Aquarium from 1991-2005. She
has the beginning of cataracts. She’s similar in appearance to Rasal, but has spots on
her fur around her front flippers.
Rasal came to us from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in February, 2005. She was born
in 1985 and was found as a stranded pup in Maine and rehabilitated at the New England
Aquarium in Boston. She lived at the Shedd Aquarium from 1991-2005. She has a scar
on the bridge on the left side of her nose. She’s similar in appearance to Leila but her
spots on her fur are more grey than tan.
Ariel came to us from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago in February, 2005. She was born
in 1990 at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. She has copper colored fur and a light
colored stomach with no spots. She looks very much like Polly, with large eyes.
Our seals are fed four times a day with a total of six to nine pounds of fish. They are
always fed out of the water (this ensures each receives the correct amount of food),
receive daily vitamins additives and, in the warmer months, receive a monthly heartworm
treatment. Once a year, each seal gets a complete physical to make sure that it is in good
health. As wild animals, harbor seals can be dangerous. The trainers are always careful
for they have been bitten several times, not usually purposely, but by accident.
The Maritime Aquarium's Seal Tank
The seal tank holds 20,000 gallons of fresh water that is continually being filtered. The
water is chlorinated to keep the bacteria at a safe level. The chlorine level in the pool is
slightly higher than you will find in tap water, but much less than found in an average
swimming pool. In the wild, harbor seals are found in both fresh and salt water. The water
in the pool is four feet deep. In the summer, temperatures range between 58°- 62°... in
winter between 40°- 45°. The water in the tank is drained and replenished once a week.
The rocks are man made (regulates environment). The TMA tank is rated to hold seven
harbor seals in the water, six on land (lowest # regulates seal population). The TMA tank
is administered by the USDA.
It is not unusual to see our seals resting on the bottom of the pool.
47
Review 4.1 Harbor Seals

Question 1 of 4
Vibrissae are special whiskers found on a seal. They can do all the following except?

A. Detect stationary features like walls and ice holes

B. Track and follow a moving fish 35 seconds after it passes

C. Angle upward to enable it to balance a ball on its nose

D. In murky waters, determine if a fish is large enough to warrant a pursuit

E. Allow a blind seal in the open ocean to fish

Check Answer 48
***
Gallery 4.1 Seal Gallery
Orange, Rasal and Ariel all lived at Shedd Aquarium 1991 -2005 and arrived at TMA 2005.
Diet at the aquarium, each seal is fed 7 to 8 pounds of fish daily.

Capelin – Good source of fresh water for the seals

Herring – Larger fish to maintain body weight

In wild, seals will eat 15 pounds daily of fish, crustaceans, squid, mollusks. They add
weight (blubber) for the winter. Eat less in spring when they shed (molt).

Harbor Seals: Harbor seals are true seals. Seals do not vocalize, just an occasional grunt
or hiss. They have ear holes, no external ear flaps. Swim using back flippers. On land,
they “bounce” along on their bellies. Can swim up to 12-15 mph. Can submerge for
approx. 30 minutes. Found near shore in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Norwalk: Our Norwalk seals come to LIS in late fall to early spring. In summer our seals
go north and range between Maine & Nova Scotia.

The seal pool getting its morning cleaning just before opening. This is a
good time talk with the aquarists.

49
References

http://jeb.biologists.org/content/206/22/4139.full.pdf

50
Section 2

Collections - Sharks/Rays Touch Pool

Stingrays Shark or Ray sighting? Reportedly over 50% of shark sightings at beaches are a case of
mistaken identity. Rays sometimes hold the tip of their wing or fin above the water as
What is a Stingray? One of four members of the cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) which they swim. It looks amazingly like a shark’s dorsal fin.
also includes the sharks, skates and chimaeras. Anatomically they lack a swim bladder
Are they dangerous? Australian experts reported stingrays are thought to have been
and must keep moving or they sink to the bottom. The stingray group includes 200+
responsible for 17-30 deaths per decade. Steve Irwin was the 3rd known in Australian
species. They differ from skates because of the presence of one or two spear-tipped
waters. About 50% of stingers will contain venom. Our aquarists trim the stingers
venomous spines located close behind the dorsal fin. They differ from sharks by having
periodically, they are not removed. At Stingray City in the Grand Caymans – all have their
their gill slits and mouth on the bottom. The spiny dogfish, a shark, has a poisonous
stingers. Even when trimmed please note they grow back like fingernails. In one report
spine in front of each of their dorsal fins.
they injure 1,500 people annually in the United States with most cases resulting from
What is cartilage? Cartilage is a lightweight flexible bone like substance found in our ears stepping on the docile creatures.
and nose. Sand tiger sharks are flexible enough to twist and touch their tail.
Is the stinger or spine made out of bone? No, it’s a hard bonelike substance called
How do they breathe on the bottom? Many species will settle on the bottom and shake to vasodentine. It resembles a steak knife with serrations on both sides.
cover themselves with a thin layer of sediment. Spiracles (like a blow hole in reverse) on
What is the Stingray Shuffle? Experienced waders and surfers will shuffle their feet when
their back allow them to take in water which they expel out the gills on the bottom.
around stingrays. The animals will swim away when nudged.
What variety is there within the ray species? The largest is the manta ray which can be
What happened to Steve Irwin? In 2006 off Batt Reef on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef,
20’ across and weigh 3,000 lbs. The most shark-like is the sawfish ray at 20’ weighing
the famous naturalist Steve Irwin was killed in a snorkeling encounter while filming either
800 lbs with its long pointed snout covered with pairs of teeth or spines. The most unique
a bat or bull ray. As he swam over the top of the large (8’, 200 lb.) ray he was stabbed in
hunter would have to be the electric ray with its 200 volt shock.
the chest. He pulled the stinger out, which could have been as long as 8”, and almost
Why does their skin feel slimy? Most members of the shark family are covered in immediately lost consciousness.
denticles, modified teeth. Rays have a smooth surface covered with a mucous. Scientist
Who was Capt. John Smith? In 1608, Capt. John Smith (Pocahontas fame) was
think the mucous fills the valleys on the skin surface making it extra smooth. We think
exploring an area in the Chesapeake Bay when his small boat ran aground. While waiting
this allows for less hydrodynamic drag, much like the surface of a submarine is smooth.
for the tide to refloat the boat the men jumped into the water to fish with their swords.
While certainly true, the shark has the better design. For a little political spin, you might
Capt. Smith impaled a ray which promptly returned the favor by stinging him in the wrist.
refer to the slimy feeling as similar to wet velvet.
By lunchtime the pain was so severe with swelling to his arm, shoulder and chest, he
instructed his men to dig his grave. Reports vary as to what happened next. In one
account a local Indian prepared a poultice/paste from mud from a nearby creek

51
(Antipoison Creek). In another account it was the ship’s doctor that applied a salve. By
dinner the pain had substantially subsided and the ray became the evening’s feast. The
location of this incident can be found on maps even today (http://www.waymarking.com/
waymarks/WM3677), it’s Stingray Point, Virginia near the mouth of the Rappahannock
river. This incident happened about a year or so before the Pocahontas rescue.
What should be done for first aid? In 50% of cases the injury is limited to a puncture
wound, sometimes a deep one. The stinger will break off in the wound in many cases.
DO NOT remove this yourself, go to a doctor where this can be removed with the least
amount of additional injury. The serrations, much like a fish hook or arrow, will do much
more damage during removal than the initial impalement. Steve Erwin pulled out the
stinger and very likely contributed to his own demise.
DO NOT go back into the water until this is somewhat healed, infections from seawater
entering a deep puncture wound can lead to complications. Immersion in hot water (hot as
you can stand it ~115 degrees) for 30 to 90 minutes can disable the proteins in the venom
from causing further damage. Reportedly this has the effect on the protein like boiling an
egg until it is hard boiled.
Where is the stinger? It varies from species to species. On cow nosed rays the stingers
are located where the tail is attached to the body. Southern rays have one to two barbs
located midway on the tail.
A full grown spine will be 4-7 inches in length and ½” to 1” in width. The venom producing
tissue is located along two ventral grooves that run the length of the spine.
Serrations along the edge and razor like sharpness make this a formidable defensive
weapon. Predators like sharks and sea turtles find this a deterrent but not a complete one.
Divers find they can easily pierce a wet suit or a swim fin. The sturdy booty and swim fin
combination is no match for an annoyed ray.
What is their range? Many cow-nosed rays stay year round in waters from Brazil to the
Gulf of Mexico. Sometime around May many start to arrive in the mid Atlantic region and
depart ~October. Some will work their way up the eastern seaboard to as far north as
Long Island Sound. Northbound they travel in small to medium size groups. Southbound
they can hookup and form large herds for the return migration to the warmer waters. As a
summer vacation activity, this is quite a swim for a visit to the New England clam beds. In
one study in 2005 using satellite transmitters, they migrated at 12-15 miles per day. When
traveling they average about 4-5 mph
How are cow-nosed rays doing as a population? Numbers are hard to come by and the
task is made more difficult because of their travel habits. From observations we conclude
they’re doing quite well. Mostly it is extremely variable with some years far more than
others.
Their major predator, the shark, has seen it’s numbers diminish by 90% since 1945. The
result has been a strong growth in the number of rays. One consequence has been a
substantial destruction of the habitat of shellfish living in eel grass. The feeding practice of
packs of rays using their large fins to dislodge the top 6-9” of sea floor has not been helpful
to the scallop population. The reduction is seen by consumers as a significant rise in the
price of scallops in the market. In an ironic twist of fate, some restaurants will substitute
medallions stamped out of ray wing for the pricier scallops. Taste, texture and smell are
similar. Savvy diners will always know the difference. The grain on a scallop runs up and
down. You’ll notice your fork goes through it easily. The ray fin medallions will have the
grain running sideways…
How do they reproduce? In the springtime the males will be attracted to the females which
have gone into estrus (heat). Fertilization is internal. The males have twin claspers.
Uninterested females resist the males by swimming with their wingtips up. The frustrated
males will bite the trailing edge of the female’s fins. Cow nosed rays give birth to live
young which hatch from an egg in the uterus of the mother. A process called
ovoviviparous. After the yolk is absorbed, the embryos are nourished by secretions from
the villi on the inner wall of the female uterus. The unborn young lie in the uteri in pairs,
rolled together head to tail. As many as six have been found in one female. Embryos in
the late stages of development have the tail spine safely embedded in the skin and
resemble their parents except for somewhat longer tails. Think of a pair of cigars lying
side by side with a poisonous spine carefully tucked inside. Gestation is 11-12 months.
The breadth at birth is about 14 inches.
What is their diet? Cow nosed rays feed chiefly on hard-shelled mollusks, both bivalve
and univalve, which they crush between their powerful dental plates, discarding the broken
shells. Razor clams, oysters, and clams are the chief diet along the southern Atlantic
coast of the United States. The few that reach New England feed on clams, large
gastropods, lobsters, and crabs. It appears that they obtain the mollusks chiefly by
dislodging them from the bottom by stirring motions of the pectorals, raising clouds of mud
and sand while rooting for them. The cow-nosed rays will use their rostral lobes like a
hand to pluck their food off the bottom.
52
Hunting in packs (10, 20 to 50 animals) they can be quite destructive to the eel grass beds
that are home to both mollusks and a host of smaller fish. The aftermath can look like a
minefield. Oystermen often construct fences and plant poles to discourage the rays. The
water will look like its boiling during feeding and sometimes gives the appearance of a
whirlpool. While interesting to watch, if you’re swimming, give them their space.
Some species are said to be able to use their pectorals like a plunger to lift or pop the
food, like a clam, from their burrows.
The largest of the rays, the filter-feeding Mantas feed on plankton and small fish.
The position of the mouth on most rays allows them to exert quite a bit of vacuum
pressure. Many visitors have recounted stories from visits to Stingray City in the Grand
Caymans. The sucking pressure against the skin can leave a small mark, a blood blister.
Hey, does anybody remember the name for that red mark on the neck frequently found on
new couples in High School? It must be tough for Honeymooners visiting Stingray City
without their spouse. How do they explain the mark to their new bride?
How long do they live? We do not know. Estimates for cow nosed rays range from 16y
-18y in the Gulf of Mexico to 13 years old on the Western Atlantic. Much is unknown about
their way of life.
Here at the aquarium they will occasionally jump out. After hours the ray touch pool is
covered tent fashion with a tarp. An incident more problematic since they reached sexual
maturity (~age 5-6 for males).
The most famous jumper is the manta ray. They get a 10 for style points with a
combination cartwheel and belly flop. Scientist think they are trying to dislodge parasites
or stun fish but no one knows for certain. It must have been quite a sight to ancient
mariners. Other reasons for the jumping are thought to be escaping predators and giving
birth.
Any good friends? Southern stingrays, especially in the Caribbean, will occasionally be
shadowed by a single bar jack “riding shotgun”. Much like the banded rudderfish swim
under sharks waiting for scraps, the jack swims in formation just above the Southern ray
waiting for leftovers.
Can they be ridden like horses or flying dragons? If you’ve seen the movie Avatar you
might be tempted to try. Remembering the placement of the spines you might think this a
suicidal move. In the touch pool, the animals react violently by flicking the tail up at you if
you grab them by the front shoulders.

Can they smell? Yes – When you are related to sharks who can smell one part in a billion
you have quite the sensitive nose. However, the rostral lobes on the cow-nosed rays do
not smell. They do however sense electrical vibrations, sound and touch. Additionally
they help guide food to the mouth. They can detect the electrical impulses from a clam
buried deep in the sand.

Do they see color? Maybe not. Their cousins, the sharks, are usually color blind. They do
seem to be more friendly to visitors wearing dark colors (like the aquarist’s navy blue).

Do they jump? It is not uncommon to see them leap out of the water. Shortly after the
Steve Irwin incident there was a man and his grandson fishing off the east Florida coast.
While cruising a leaping Eagle Ray landed in their boat. As the grandfather went to heave
it out of the boat it stung him, piercing or nicking two chambers of his heart. At a nearby
hospital a surgeon removed the spine, saving the man’s life.

In March 2008, a woman riding in a boat cruising about 25 mph off the Florida Keys was
killed when she collided with a leaping 75lb spotted eagle ray.

53
Gallery 4.2 Critters of the Shark/Ray Touch Pool Area Gallery 4.3 Shark Details

The Cownosed ray has a distinctive rostral lobe used like a pair of Carcharadon Megaladon- This 50’ large shark lived
hands. They can auger in on their heads and pick up clams. Their
jaw will un-hinge and allow them to crack the clams like a nut
cracker.

1 of 12

54
Section 3

Collections - Marine Lab

Nursery for Jellies & Seahorses Octopus

The large majority of our collection of over 300 species comes from outside sources. Two Our 500 gallon tank houses the Giant Pacific Octopus. They reach exhibit size in about 1
classes of fish, jellies and seahorses, are difficult and/or expensive to acquire externally. 1/2 years. With a life span of 4 years (twice the Eastern Octopus’s 2 years) we have on
Jellies are extremely delicate and due to the short life span are needed continuously to average about a 2 1/2 year window to display these extraordinary creatures.
replenish our exhibits. Lined Seahorses can be collected locally but are exceptionally
difficult to locate and capture using acceptable techniques. Formerly located “behind the The aquarists have a challenge keeping the mind “active” on these intelligent
scenes” the nursery has been brought into public view. invertebrates. Remember this large mollusc is a cousin of the clam. A variety of
enrichment activities are presented ...
Reef Fish & Corals
The Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) provides one source of information about who can
live (peacefully) with who. An octopus looks at most tank mates as a fresh seafood buffet.
Stocking and maintaining a saltwater reef fish tank is an expensive, delicate and labor
It is hoped the sunflower stars, the world’s largest species, will be left alone.
intensive endeavor. The results are well worth the effort. Coral is easy to propogate - just
break off a piece and provide sunlight and a nutrient rich environment. Just watch your
temperature, many corals have a symbiotic relationship with zooanthellae (animal Gallery 4.4 Marine Lab
plankton) which have very narrow acceptable temperature band. Above or below which
the zooanthellae abandon the host - resulting in a blanching

Grow Out Tanks, Quarantine Area

New arrivals to the aquarium sometimes bring unexpected guests. A mandatory 30 day
quarantine helps protect the existing population from any diseases or parasites brought
by new-comers. It also provides a much needed rest and relaxation time to buildup their
strength after the stress of a forced relocation (remember Nemo).

Grow out tanks allow their inhabitants time to reach a size acceptable for their planned
new neighborhood. Where a juvenile might be considered food, a mature specimen is
The Giant Pacific Octopus will grow to 15-20 feet
in their 4 year lifespan.
more likely to be peacefully tolerated. It’s helpful to remember the vast majority of fish are
carnivores.

55
Seahorses

Description: Smallest is the Pygmy at ½" - largest will go 12". Aquarium trade - less than 1,000,000 year.
Interactive 4.1 Marine Lab
Wild caught seahorses fare poorly in captivity.
Color Change Artists (Chromatophores)- They have personality and will lighten up when
Slides
Tank bred are much more hardy and
their handler arrives with dinner or their mate appears (mood/hormonal change). They unfortunately, more expensive. Many
darken when threatened (Active Camouflage to match their environment). They can diseases… Often sold as a mating pair.
change colors within a few minutes, if they want. The Navy is learning to do active Needs a tall tank (16" +) for the mating.
camouflage on submarines to hide from spy satellites. Will grow physical appendages,
cirri, to aid in camouflage (Passive Camouflage) Asian Demand - 20,000,000 year for
Traditional Chinese Medicines. Ingredient in
In 1999 we knew of 32 species, by 2008 the number was 40. All but the Hawaiian (pelagic) some 90 recipes for heart, sexual function, …
species prefer the shallows. Poor swimmers, the dorsal fin beats 35-70 beats per second Demand increasing as economy/disposable
(like an awkward hummingbird). income increases. For fishermen in Florida -
This is the deck from the latest 100,000 in by-catch in just one year.
Range: Seahorses range the temperate seas worldwide. Males will sometimes stay
Marine Lab Training Class Indonesian farmer may get $.60 while the
attached to the same blade of sea grass for days. Males range may be 6 sq. ft. while the
Hong Kong market might sell 6 for $75.00.
female might venture over a range of 15 sq. ft. with a small overlap (Think intersecting
venn diagrams).
Gallery 4.5 Reef Fish
Life span: ~4yrs. They grow continuously throughout their lives, reaching reproductive
maturity at 6 months. Crown is unique.

Fun Facts: Relatives are the Pipefish and the Sea Dragons (Southern Australia). Only the
male seahorse has a true pregnancy. Pipefish/Sea Dragons carry their young (no pouch).
Super hard to find.

Seahorses are big eaters for a creature with no teeth or stomach. Food is shredded by a
powerful suck/vacuum. Bits lay on the gills for the food to be absorbed - just like oysters…
Refuse is snorted out the back side of the head - inspiration for fire breathing dragons?
May eat 1,000 to 1,500 brine shrimp a day. Prefers live food!
Clownfish, “Nemo!” - Mutual protection includes
chasing off butterfly fish that feed on anemone
Complex social life - Some come together for a 7 month breeding season. May produce tentacles and providing a night time safe haven.
as many as 1,500 young a year. Larger species have fewer kids. Mostly monogamous for Buy any two less than 1/2” long and you have a
a breeding season. Female deposits eggs in his pouch where he seals the pouch, mating pair. All juveniles are male, the dominant
fertilizes the eggs, womb like a female, birth in 2-3 weeks, womb fluid to sea water, labor of the pair will change into a female.
starts at night and lasts from less than 1 to up to 48 hours. Female visits daily just after
dawn for a short, six minute visit/tail holding dance.
1 of 22

56
References

Clown Fish

“Anemonefish oxygenate their anemone hosts at night” http://jeb.biologists.org/content/

216/6/970.full

The mutualism between giant sea anemones and their anemonefish associates on
Indo-Pacific coral reefs is one of the most conspicuous and well-known symbioses
in marine ecosystems. Initially, the partnership was considered solely as a
protection mutualism, in which anemonefish chase away butterfly fishes
(Chaetodontidae) that prey on sea anemone tentacles (Fautin, 1991; Fautin and
Allen, 1997; Porat and Chadwick-Furman, 2004), and the nematocyst-laden
tentacles of sea anemones deter the piscivorous predators of anemonefishes
(Mariscal, 1970a). However, recent studies indicate that byproducts from
anemonefish wastes provide essential nutrients to their cnidarian hosts (Roopin
and Chadwick, 2009; Cleveland et al., 2011; Roopin et al., 2011).

Anemone fishes and their host sea anemones: A guide for aquarists and divers http://
www.getcited.org/pub/100376770

Blue Tang

Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport “Blue Tang” http://aquarium.org/exhibits/sea-me/

animals/blue-tang

Blueheaded Wrasse

Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History “Bluehead” http://

www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/Bluehead/Bluehead.html

57
Section 4

Collections - Collections - Jellies

A permanent exhibit of jellies consists of four animal display tanks located on the first 1. Scyphozoa
floor: The six foot cylindrical tank, the large kriesel, and the small kriesel. Only sea jellies
• jellyfish (jellies or Medusae preferred names)
are displayed; the moon jellies (Aurelia), the sea nettle (Chrysaora), and the lion’s mane
(Cyanea).
2. Anthozoa (flower animals)

Volunteer Role - The volunteer gallery guide role at this exhibit station is to: involve • sea anemones
visitors by talking with them about jellies and other animals of the Cnidarian phylum,
provide interpretive information and answer visitor questions. • true or stony corals

Phylum Cnidaria • soft corals (including sea fans, pens, and pansies
Although no sea anemones, corals, or hydroids are presently included in this smaller
exhibit, it will be useful to have some information on the whole phylum as you talk with our 3. Hydrozoa
visitors. • hydroids

General characteristics of the phylum Cnidaria (ni-da-ree-uh) are • Portuguese-man-o-war

• invertebrates - animals without backbones,

• radial symmetry - central mouth surrounded by a ring of tentacles like spokes of a

wheel,

• sac like body filled with jelly-like material,

• tentacles with stinging capsules called nematocysts,

• no internal organs like a brain, heart, gills, kidney, or liver, and no blood either, and a
simple nervous system or nerve net which receives and passes information to other
parts of the organism. This is an important evolutionary advance over the sponge
phylum.

9,000 species in three classes:

58

Class: Scyphozoa
The Scyphozoans are the most familiar jelly animals - free swimming, bell shaped animals
commonly known as jellyfish, but are not fish at all. The adult form is called a medusa.
However, their life cycle includes a polyp stage. The anthozoans, or flower animals, look
like flowers or upside down bells on stalks when they are adults. The body of an adult
anthozoan is called a polyp. Most do not swim. With their adhesive base, they hold on to
seaweed or rocks and wait for food to come to them. The hydrozoans can be either free
swimming or stationary polyps. The polyp generation is more noticeable, often forming
bushy growths on rocks, while the medusa generation consists of small, microscopic
animals. They often form colonies of animals, the most famous of which is the much
feared Portuguese-man-of-war.
1. Physical characteristics
The medusa form of sea jellies consists of two thin layers of cells covering the inner and
outer surfaces of a saucer-shaped mass of non- living gelatinous material. They have
stinging tentacles around the perimeter of the bell, four or more frilly feeding arms in the
center surrounding a mouth which takes food into the body and then releases waste
through the same opening. They have a primitive stomach and reproductive organs. They
are 2% protein, 2% mineral salts, and 96% water. Not only are the jellies the first animals
to have evolved neuron cells but they also have the first muscle cells and among the first
to develop weapons that discharge coiled darts of stinging poisons. Jelly size varies from a
tenth of an inch to the lion’s mane which may grow to eight feet in diameter with tentacles
one hundred feet long. The moon jelly is six to ten inches in diameter.
2. Reproduction
Individual jellyfish are either male or female. The eggs and sperm develop in gonadal
areas within the body wall. The gonads are quite apparent in the moon jelly and appear
like yellowish brown four leafed clover designs near the top of the body. Some eggs stick
to the frilly mouth lips where they are fertilized by the sperm. Cell division results in an
embryo which develops into a swimming planula larva which makes its way to a solid
surface. Here it attaches itself and immediately starts growing into a polyp. Each polyp is
able to reproduce new polyps by a process called budding, in which completely new
polyps develop from the body wall of the original creature. The polyps in LIS overwinter in
this form and in the spring separate into a stack of disc shaped structures which break
away to become the baby medusa jellies or ephyra. These young grow very rapidly during
the Spring and Summer to full adult size. The life cycle of a jellyfish is about a year.
Scientists call the life cycle found in jellies alternation of generations. This is because the
medusa generation undergoes sexual reproduction and alternates with the polyp
generation, which undergoes asexual reproduction. A colorful wall chart in the area shows
this life cycle. Please note it is not to scale. Eggs, larvae, and polyps are much smaller
than the medusa. Polyps can also be noted attached to the inner wall of the cylindrical
tank. To see the polyp in action check out this video from Alvaro Migotto of
the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. - http://vimeo.com/13496458
3. Nervous System
The nervous system of a jellyfish is primitive compared with the complicated network of
brain, spinal cord, ganglia, and nerve tracts found in the higher level animals. However,
they do have nerve cells similar to ours, which form a loose network just underneath the
outside body layer. Each nerve cell connects to at least one other nerve cell. There is no
central processing center to receive and send out impulses. Instead, when the nerve cells
are stimulated, impulses shoot off in all directions. It senses with its whole body. Nerve
cells of the nerve net will eventually make contact with the muscle cells which will respond
by contracting or relaxing the muscles.
A concentration of nerve cells around the margin of the bell act as pacemakers which set
off impulses at fixed intervals of time and cause periodic muscle contraction without
outside stimulus.
Detector cells, called chemoreceptors, can sense the presence of certain chemicals given
off by their prey. This will stimulate the jelly to pulse and move more rapidly thus
increasing their chances of tentacle/prey contact.
Touch receptors in the tentacles and mouth lips respond to direct touch.
Jellies also have balance receptors, tiny stone-like structures connected to a concentration
of nerve cells. As a jellyfish swims, the stone contacts the nerve cells which signal the
muscles to contract and set the animal straight.
Light receptors in many species help them distinguish between night and day. Many jellies
move up and down in the water in response to a sensed amount of sunlight present.
59
4. Respiration
Jellies have no lungs or gills. The walls of their bodies are so thin that oxygen molecules
pass directly from the water into the internal organs and the carbon dioxide molecules
pass out the same way. They really breathe with their entire bodies.
5. Movement
Jellyfish are moved by water currents in the ocean and by contractions of their own bodies.
They are considered part of the plankton of the ocean. That is, those animals that drift or
float passively in the water. The box jellies are an exception, they can see and steer. See
the Journal of Experimental Biology (JEB) article, Vol 214, 2809-2815 on how Danish
researchers tethered jellies and directed their flight response using light panels. http://
jeb.biologists.org/content/214/17/2809.full?sid=65f7b8be-a0ca-4aec-
b47e-306e5b12c23ab47e-306e5b12c23a
They are also able to swim slowly through the water by contracting the muscle fibers in
their body wall, which are regulated by the primitive nervous system. In many medusae,
these pulsations serve to keep the animal in an upright position. In species such as the
moon jelly, the swimming is related to feeding. As animals pulsate, water is filtered
through the tentacles and their prey are captured. They do maintain their individual
spaces -- almost never colliding.
6. Feeding and Digestion
Jellies have no intestines, liver, pancreas, or any complicated mechanism for the digestion
of their food. They have a large mouth and stomach, centrally located, and digest their
food. They get rid of any waste matter through their mouth very rapidly. They cannot
afford to carry bulky food or waste products which would make it difficult for them to float.
The primary food of the jellyfish are the zooplankton of the ocean, small animals, often
microscopic. In the Aquarium, we feed them a small brine shrimp, which we grow in our
lab. Jellies will eat other jellies in the ocean, but when they are injured they seem to
become prey to their own species.
To aid in capturing their prey, jellies use tiny stinging capsules called nematocysts which
are located on their tentacles (over a thousand per inch). A nematocyst consists of a
capsule with a trapdoor at one end, and contains a coiled and folded hollow thread or tube.
When an animal touches the trigger, the trapdoor opens and the tube is everted (turned
inside out) as it extends from the capsule. The whole event takes place in milliseconds.
The nematocyst tubes of some stinging jellies pierce the victim’s skin and inject a
paralyzing toxin. Scientists have found thirty different types of nematocyst tubes and
methods of capturing prey.
A colorful wall chart in the exhibit area gives more information about nematocysts and
includes drawings of charged and discharged capsules.
Biologists call the nematocyst an independent effect. This means that each capsule brings
about its own discharge without having to respond to a signal which passes through the
nervous system. They are discharged by direct touch AND the presence of chemicals
from the prey.
The nematocysts are special weapons which make it unnecessary for the jellies to be as
fast or faster, stronger, or more clever than their prey. The toxins injected act quickly to
paralyze or kill the prey, which soon ceases to struggle. It then can be drawn to the mouth,
swallowed, and digested without difficulty or damage to fragile body tissues.
As stinging capsules are used, others are developed to take their place. Jellies on the
beach should also be treated with respect. Even though the animals is dead, the
independently acting nematocysts can still sting on contact.
7. Predators
Two very large animals, the leatherback turtle and the ocean sunfish feed almost
exclusively on jellyfish and most other turtle species during early life.
Loggerhead sea turtles find jellies a tasty treat, particularly the Portuguese Man-o-War.
When currents bring huge numbers of jellies together, sea turtles will gather and gorge
themselves in spite of their eyes being closed by the stings.
Sea slugs called Nudibranchs feed on jellies without being affected by the nematocysts. In
fact, it appears that the Nudibranchs can move stinging capsules from the jellies, into their
own body, thus equipping themselves with stolen weapons.
Humans are also a predator of the jellyfish both for food and to eradicate them as pests.
Apparently some people in the orient consider dried jellyfish a delicacy at $12.00 per dried
disc.
60
8. Effect on Humans 9. Aquarium Equipment

Most jellies cause mild or no discomfort to humans with their stings. The moon jelly in our The “kriesel “tanks holding the jellies are specially designed so that water currents keep
exhibit is one of these. The other three are more troublesome, particularly the lion’s mane the animals away from the glass walls and the intake/output systems. Everything possible
jelly. Many visitors will refer to the benign one as the white jelly of Long Island Sound and is done to avoid damage to their delicate skins.
the stinging one as the red jelly.
Degassing tanks have also been installed to remove gas bubbles from the water. If
Those that do effect humans severely have toxins which disrupt the synapses and stop bubbles are left in the tank they can become trapped under the animals’ bells. If allowed
transmissions of nerve impulses. Their enzymes cause searing pain. In addition, with to remain there, they can work their way into and through the animals’ bodies.
some species there can be long term scarring and even death. Death can come directly
as a result of the toxin or indirectly by drowning, because the toxin has immobilized the 10. Fun Facts
person.
A. When food becomes scarce a moon jelly (and many others) may lose over 90% of it’s
The Australian Sea Wasp, a boxlike medusa about the size of a coconut, is the most weight. As food supplies become more abundant, it will gain much of that mass back.
deadly of the jellyfish. The venom of the sea wasp is said to be the most powerful and
B. The immortal jelly can theoretically live forever. As conditions threaten, the medusa
virulent poison in nature. It is one of the swiftest acting venoms, taking five minutes from
stage will metamorphose back to the polyp stage. When environmental conditions
sting to death, making it the most deadly known to science. Even when one part venom is
improve the polyp will again start to produce ephyra and buds.
diluted in 10,000 parts of water, it is still able to kill laboratory animals like mice and rabbits
in seconds. Statistics from Australia indicate that 4-5 times more people are killed each
C. The largest migration in the world (as measured by biomass) takes place daily as the
year by the sea wasp than by sharks. An equally dangerous relative is the tiny Irukandji
deep jellies rise to the surface at night to feed. As daylight approaches they will again
jelly found on the northern shore of Australia. “Irukanji Syndrome” is a delayed response
dive down to the protective dark depths.
(5-20 minutes) which is extremely painful.

D. Engineers tell us the fastest thing/activity in the animal kingdom is the deployment of
In addition to the jellies adverse physical impact on humans, they also have an economic
the stinger in a nematocysts -powered by osmotic pressure.
impact. They cost us losses of millions of dollars. A primary impact is on tourism. When
the red flag goes up which indicates that the red jellies have invaded, the tourists cancel
E. The freshwater jellies, Craspedacusta sowerbyi, are an invasive species from China
their reservations. The sea nettle is a major problem in Chesapeake Bay, not only to
which are now found throughout North America. The stinger is “thought” to be too small
tourism, but also to the fish and power industries. They clog water, burst nets, and limit
to pierce the skin of humans and reportedly poses no threat.
possible activity in intake pipes and cooling systems.
F. Jellyfish Lake in Palau, Micronesia is a marine lake which is home to Golden Jellyfish.
Every attempt to control jellyfish - by nets, jellies specific poisons or biological controls -
The jellies make a daily migration “across” the lake to feed before retiring to the safety
has failed. Human pollution does not seem to bother them. In fact, sea nettles seem to
of the depths each night. No scuba diving is allowed - the bubbles, if caught in the bell
thrive in waters over-nourished with sewage and Cassiopeia populations often explode in
of the jellies, would interfere with their daily travel and dinner plans!
the polluted canals of the Florida Keys.
G. First Aid - Vinegar! It’s standard equipment in Life Guard kits. It works by dissolving
These pulsating parachutes have been around for 650 million years (from impressions in
the cell membranes of unfired nematocysts. Doesn’t help with the pain but it stops
Cambrian sandstone found in Australia) and they will probably continue to thrive as long as
things from getting worse.
the Earth has seas.

61
 Phylum Ctenophora (ti nof’ ora)
LEIDY’S COMB JELLIES: Mnemiobsis leidyi
Small marine invertebrates with transparent gelatinous bodies and comb like plates. They
are found in Long Island Sound and throughout the World. Most are colorless and
transparent as glass except for a beautiful iridescence of the comb plates.
There is a single opening at the oral or mouth end and a complex sense organ at the
aboral end. Eight regularly placed longitudinal rows of movable comblike plates pass from
near the aboral end to the mouth. Each plate is formed by the fusion of a row of large,
powerful cilia. Swimming is accomplished by the beating of the comb plates in
coordinated waves. The animal normally swims with the mouth end forward.
The Leidy’s Comb Jellies move forward with their mouth end open. When morsels of food
enter the mouth, it closes and cilia move the food into the stomach. Other comb jellies
such as the sea gooseberry, have long tentacles with numerous short branches.
Numerous cells, the colloblasts, are on each tentacle. The outer border of each of these
cells is covered with tiny droplets of an extremely adhesive secretion to which any small
animals stick. Periodically the tentacles are moved to the mouth where they captured prey
is removed and ingested. Comb jellies do not sting their prey as the Cnidaria do.
They swim feebly by means of their comb plates but are often carried by strong water
currents. Thus, they are planktonic.
All are carnivorous, devouring myriads of other small planktonic animals. Where they are
abundant, they often sweep water clean of these animals, which affects small fish that also
feed on them. They are eaten by fish.
Most comb jellies are luminescent, some exhibiting a nocturnal display of bluish or
greenish light that is among the most beautiful in the animal kingdom.
They coordinate their activities through a primitive network of nerve cells, comparable in
many respects to the Cnidaria. Although there is no centralization of nerve cells, the
network is more connected under the comb plates.
Reproduction is sexual. A single comb jelly produces both eggs and sperm. Fertilization
and embryonic development occur in the water. Development is direct with no larval
stages.
Involving the Visitors
Share any of the above facts which you think might intrigue the visitor. This is usually a
successful way to start a conversation.
Ask the question, “Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish?” If they have, they will want to
talk about it. This will give you additional information to share with others. Use your own
experience if you have had difficult encounters.
Show the visitors the two wall charts and help them understand the life cycle of the jellies
and the function of the nematocysts.
If live polyps have formed inside the moon jelly tank, point them out.
If you have a small class or group, summarize some of the information in this procedure
and give them a brief talk.
Ask the question, “Why do you think the adult form of a jellyfish is called a medusa?”
Many are aware of the Greek myth. If you are not, Medusa was once a beautiful maiden
whose hair was her chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva, the
goddess of wisdom, the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her beautiful
ringlets into hissing poisonous serpents. Medusa became a cruel monster with so frightful
an appearance, no living thing could look at her without being turned into stone. Her
cavern was filled with stony figures of men and animals who had tried to conquer her.
Perseus finally cut off Medusa’s head by using the reflection of a shield provided by
Minerva. In this way, Perseus did not have to look directly at Medusa.
Ask the question, “Why do you think the upside down jellies are also called Cassiopeia?”
Few visitors are aware of this Greek myth. Some do know that this is also the name of a
constellation. Cassiopeia was queen of Ethiopia and vainly proud of her beauty. She had
dared to compare herself to the Sea Nymphs, which so roused their indignation, that they
sent an enormous sea monster to savage the coast. To appease the deities, Cepheus, the
Ethiopian king, was directed by the oracle to expose his daughter Andromeda to be
devoured by the monster. Perseus killed the monster and as his reward, Perseus asked
for Andromeda’s hand in marriage. Cassiopeia is also called the starred Ethiopian queen.
This is because after her death Cassiopeia was placed among the stars forming the
constellation of her name. Though she attained this honor, the sea nymphs, her old
enemies, prevailed. They caused Cassiopeia to be placed in that part of the heavens near
62
the pole, where every night she is half the time upside down. In this position, her head is Gallery 4.7 Jellies
held downward to give her a lesson of humility.

There are many other ideas for involvement. See what you can come up with.

Moon Jelly: Aurelia aurita

Description: Medusa form of sea jellies consists of two thin layers of cells covering
the inner and outer surfaces of a bell-shaped mass of non-living gelatinous
material. They have stinging tentacles around the perimeter of the bell. There are
four or more frilly feeding arms in the center surrounding a mouth. They have a
Moon Jellies - You are what you eat! The
primitive stomach and reproductive organs. “pink”colors of those 4 rings inside the bell are a
pretty good indication dinner was brine shrimp.
Color: Clear

Size: 6 to 10 inches in diameter

Life Cycle: The jellies life cycle involves an alternation of generation. The animal
passes through two body forms. The animal begins in the polyp stage and then
takes the medusa form as an adult. Gallery 4.6 Anthozoa (flower animals)

Range: Throughout most of the world’s oceans.

Diet: Zooplankton. In the aquarium, we feed them a small brine shrimp.

Predators: Sea turtles, ocean sunfish, sea slugs and humans.

Fun Fact: Jellies are 96% water.

Each nematocyst requires two triggers to fire.
Both a mechanical touch and a chemical
response. The bulb anemone shown here
doesn’t sting the Maroon Clownfish
(anymore). The juvenile clownfish brush
against the anemone and acquire the
protective chemical signature.

1 of 11

63
References

Bulb Anemone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ZxGiaqWsg

Button Coral

Cancer Research http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/49/21/5837.full.pdf

64
Section 5

Collections - Go Fish!
The mission statement of The Maritime Aquarium sometimes gets lost in the awe
and wonder of the collection. “Go Fish!” reminds us that “to know someone” is to Gallery 4.8 Go Fish!
“Love someone”. If we truly want our visitors to go forth and preach the good news
”Save the sound for future generations!”, we must educate. An education which
starts with the individual - “What can I do?”

We have had several patrons who felt strongly about this, their funding has been
the catalyst for the Go Fish exhibit. They believed deeply in the benefits of
sustainable fishing in Long Island Sound. They also believed that those who love
the sound, like fishermen, would protect the sound. Someone just had to educate
them, and start young.

The weather extremes of Long Island Sound result in a diverse and transient
population. The “Go Fish” exhibit is the home of our cold water (winter) population.
This 33,000 gallon tank is kept at 40-45 degrees. While many of our fair weather
friends head south for the winter, these hardy species are with us year round.
Remembering that below thermocline (25’-35’ guess!) the water temperature
doesn’t vary much summer (55) to winter (45).

The large halibut at at 4-6’ and 150 lbs are one our visitors’ favorites. This is also a
favorite of anglers with the largest ones coming in over 400 lbs. These grand-
daddys are a far cry from the halibut we see on the plate. An exciting treat on
Thursday mornings is when the divers hand feed these magnificent creatures.
The oceans provide a bounty that can sustain the food needs of all
mankind. Smart choices insure we have sustainability. Go Fish!
The central theme of this exhibit is to love fish - sustainably. Encourage all guests
celebrates the benefits of a healthy diet, the love of sport fishing and the
to visit the Sustainable Seafood Theater. Here you’ll find a professionally done education to make those smart choices.
‘edutainment’ documentary that helps us see the big picture.

So what can you do? Respect The Fish!

65
Atlantic Halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus)
Description: Largest flatfish in the Atlantic. Halibut have no swim bladder and they settle
on the ocean bottom. Large mouth that gapes back as far as the top half of the lower eye.
Concave caudal fin. Chocolate or slaty brown on the eyed side. Larger ones are usually
darker, almost black. Blind side is usually white or grayish.
Size: 7 to 8 feet. Can be 300 -350 pounds.
Range: Typically North Atlantic from Greenland to Labrador, but have been sighted as far
down as Virginia.
Diet: Fish, crustaceans.
Predators: Seals and the Greenland shark.
Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua)
Description: Heavy-bodied with three dorsal fins. Body heaviest under the first dorsal fin,
then tapering to a slender tail and caudal fin. Barbel on bottom lip helps them find food on
the sea floor. Found in a wide variety of colors that fall into two groups: gray-green or red.
The monsters are 20 yr. old, 6-7' and 200 lbs, an apex predator that lives on the bottom.
Most common are 2-5 yr. and 12-25 lbs. The population is listed as "Threatened". About
10% of the world population is left. The Northwest Atlantic Cod fishery collapsed in the
1990's - a drop of 95% of the catch. Trawling nets used for catching cod damage habitats.
Cod provided a large reason for the early explorers to populate the New World. Salt cod
preserved well. Prey is herring, capelin, shrimp, and snow crab. Please don't buy or eat.
Size: Commercially caught cod average 5-10 pounds, but they can be 50-60 pounds.
Age: Maximum approx. 25 years.
Range: North American coast from Canada down to North Carolina. Also found on the
east and west coasts of Greenland, around Iceland and parts of Europe.
Diet: Fish, crustaceans and mollusks. Usually fast when spawning.
Predators: Seals and large sharks.
Fun Fact: Can lay several million eggs at one time.
Pollock (Pollachius virens)
Description: A member of the Cod family. Deep, plump body that tapers to a pointed snout
and a slender caudal peduncle. Has a protruding lower jaw with a small chin barbel.
Noticeably forked caudal fin with angular corners. Greenish hue which pales to a
yellowish or grayish belly. Can live up to 23 years old.
Size: Commonly between 1 and 3.5 feet. Can be up to 4 feet.
Range: Hudson Strait in Canada down to northeastern United States. Also found around
Iceland and Greenland.
Diet: Crustaceans, small fish and squid.
Predators: Spiny dogfish, lobsters, gray seal, harbor seal, and minke whale.
Fun Fact: Unlike other fish, pollock lay eggs in colder weather (winter), when water
temperature is below 50 degrees. A seafood “Best Choice”. Used in frozen fish products
like fish sticks. Also used in imitation crab meat, and scallops.
Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
Description: Sleek fish. Deepest below the dorsal fin, from where it tapers towards both
the head and the tail. Small head with blunt snout. Silvery with a brownish back and
many small black spots on the head and body.
Size: 2 to 3 feet and up to 15 pounds.
Range: Coastal waters on both sides of the North Atlantic. Spend most of their lives in the
ocean, but they enter rivers to spawn. Were indigenous to suitable rivers from Labrador to
the Housatonic River, which runs into Long Island Sound. Human activities have
drastically reduced their range.
Diet: Mostly fish, including herring, alewife and capelin.
Predators: Harbor seals and gray seals, large sharks, tuna and swordfish.
66
Fun Fact: Adults swim back up the same river where they were spawned to lay their eggs only fish. Live up to 30 years. Eat plants and animals. Spawn in fresh water April – June.
- return to ocean after spawning. Atlantic salmon may travel up to 100 miles up the Population reached a low in 1980’s, but strong management has helped the population
Connecticut River to return to their birth place to spawn. Juveniles hatch in Spring and rebound
stay in rivers for first 2 years.

Pacific salmon – die after spawning. Live 4-10 years. Used to populate all rivers north of
Hudson R. Now only native population left is in ME. Tautog (Tautoga onitis)

Wild caught Alaskan salmon is a Best Choice. Farmed salmon should be avoided for
many reasons:
• The waste from millions of captive fish empties directly into the ocean, polluting the
water with untreated sewage, toxic chemicals, and other wastes. Annually, ~three
million farmed salmon from a limited gene pool escape from their pens each year,
interbreeding with, often out-competing, populations of genetically diverse wild salmon.
Ideal hosts for highly contagious diseases and parasites; escapees spread them to wild
fish.
Description: Stout body. Short head. Deep caudal peduncle. Rubbery skin with a thick
coating of slime, which protects them from sharp rocks. Vary greatly in color and
markings. Generally brownish or blackish with dark blotches on side. Belly is only slightly
lighter than the sides.
Size: Most weigh between 2 and 4 pounds, but can grow up to 20 pounds and 3 feet.
Range: Eastern coast of North America from Nova Scotia to South Carolina; most
common between Cape Cod and Chesapeake Bay.

Diet: Wide variety of mollusks and crustaceans; small fish.

• Carnivorous, they need the equivalent of three pounds of wild fish from the world’s
oceans to make one pound of farmed salmon.
Predators: Smooth dogfish, hake, barn-door skate.

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)

Fun Fact: Usually found among rocks and shipwrecks.

Description: Body 3 to 4 times as long as it is deep. Slightly arched back. Protruding

Atlantic Wolffish (Anarhichas lupus)
lower jaw. Greenish to bluish on top. Pale on the sides. Silvery bottom.

Description: Stout body. Heavy, blunt head. Dorsal fin spans length of the body. Deepest
Size: Can typically weigh up to 35-40 pounds. 50 pounds not unusual. Heaviest on
part of body is behind head, then body tapers back to a slender caudal peduncle.
record is 125 pounds.
Formidable series of teeth. Teeth and jaws are capable of crushing hard-shelled
crustaceans. Wide variety of tints. Usually marked with a variable number of dark bars.
Range: Eastern North America from Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida: along northern shore
of the Gulf of Mexico; and the Pacific coast from British Columbia to Mexico. Will journey
Size: Generally up to 3 feet and between 10 to 15 pounds.
from North Carolina to New England for food. Some will spend summer in Long Island
Sound.
Range: Both sides of North Atlantic. From Davis Strait between Greenland and Canada
down to Cape Cod.
Diet: Any available small fish and a wide variety of invertebrates.

Diet: Hard-shelled mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, fish.

Predators: Larger fish, but man is the biggest predator.

Predators: Greenland shark, Atlantic cod, haddock, and gray seal.

Fun Fact: Move into fresh or brackish water to spawn. Farmed Striped Bass is a Best
Choice – raised in inland tanks with little chance of harming local waters, fish do not eat

67
Fun Fact: A chemical in the Wolffish’s blood keeps them from freezing at the cold ocean
bottom.
Spotted Wolffish (Anarhichas minor)
Description: Stout body. Heavy, blunt head. Formidable series of teeth. Deepest part of
body is behind head, then body tapers back to a slender caudal peduncle. Dorsal fin
spans the length of the body.
Behavior: Sedentary and mostly solitary, except during mating season.
Color: Pale olive to brown. Upper parts heavily sprinkled with black-brown spots.
Size: Up to 4 feet and between 10 to 15 pounds.
Largest skate in the Northwest Atlantic. Winter & Spring are close to shore, Summer and
Fall swim off shore. Used for bait, to make fish meal, pet food, wing meat used as
seafood. .
Clearnose Skate (Raja eglanteria)
Description: Trapezoid-shaped disk, slightly acute snout, moderately long tail. Dorsal
surface brown to gray with dark spots. Ventral surface white to yellowish. Translucent
areas on either side of its pointed snout.
Size: Up to 3 feet.
Range: Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Florida. Northern Gulf of Mexico from
Florida to Texas.

Range: Mostly north of the Arctic Circle. In North American can be found off Greenland
and occasionally in the Gulf of Maine.
Diet: Similar to Atlantic wolfish, but eat fewer mollusks and more fishes.
Predators: Greenland shark, cod, pollock.
Fun Fact: Live in deep, cold water on muddy bottoms around boulders.
Barndoor Skate (Dipturus laevis)
Diet: Polychaetes, amphipods, shrimp, crabs, bivalve mollusks, squid, bony fish.
Predators: Sharks, including sand tiger sharks.
Clearnose skate not often used for food
Spiny Dogfish Shark
Sharp venomous spines (used for protection) on each dorsal fin – venom not normally
harmful to humans. Used as the fish in Europe’s “Fish and Chips”. Previously it was cod,
but the cod populations are too low to be used now. This shark is the most often used in
biology classes for dissections. Live up to 40 years.

Description: Trapezoid-shaped disk, blunt tip on acute snout, moderately short tail. Dorsal
Summer Flounder (Fluke)
surface is brownish, usually with dark spots and lighter streaks. Ventral surface is white to
gray. Gray blotches on the snout. “Left sided” flounder with sharp teeth. Stock in process of rebuilding, should be back to
normal by 2013
Size: One of the largest skates in the Atlantic: Up to 5 feet and 40 pounds.

Range: Atlantic coast from southeast Canada down to North Carolina.

Diet: Invertebrates and bottom-dwelling fish.

Predators: Sharks.

68
Section 6
Collections - Africa
Africa - From The Desert To The Sea
This exhibit is scheduled for a two year run. The second largest continent. Africa has an
enormous variety of animals and habitats. In Africa you will find the world’s longest river,
the saltiest coral reefs, the second largest rainforest, high mountains, deep lakes and dry
deserts. These unique places are home to some of our favorite land and aquatic animals,
including lions, whales, elephants, hippos, penguins and meerkats!
Meerkats (Suricata suricatta)
Description: The name meerkat is an Africaan name (Dutch population of South Africa),
which translates to lake cat - even though they don’t live in a lake and aren’t a cat. A
member of the mongoose family. They’re the only member of the mongoose family that
doesn’t have a bushy tail. A meerkat’s tail is long and thin, and tapers to a black or
reddish tip. It uses the tail for balance when it stands upright.
Size: Body length of 10-14 inches and an added tail length of 7 to 10 inches. They’ll
weigh about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs with the males just slightly larger.
Range: Kalahari desert in Botswana and in South Africa
Diet: They dig very quickly to find insects (the biggest part of their diet), as well as
spiders, snails, rodents, birds, eggs, lizards and even scorpions. They are quite well
equipped, with speed, and training deal with the strong venom of the scorpions that live in
the Kalahari desert. http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/meerkats-poison.htm
At TMA they are fed 4 times daily - our kitchen prepares bananas, apples, carrots, yams,
blueberries and peaches.
Fun Facts: A group of meerkats is called a “mob”, “gang” or “clan”. A meerkat clan often
contains about 20 meerkats, but some superfamilies have 50 or more members. Life
span is 10-12 years in the wild - longer (12-14 yrs.) in zoos and aquariums. Although they
reach sexual maturity at age one, a dominant female and dominant male produce most of
the offspring in a meerkat mob. If they’re siblings, they won’t. If a non-alpha female
should become pregnant, the alpha female will likely kill the babies and kick out the
offender. Gestation is about 11 weeks and average 2-5 pups (or kits) per litter. A female
can have as many as 4 litters in a year. The TMA meerkats, all six (3 males/3 females)
siblings, were all born on July 4th, 2009 at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah. Only
the alpha male and female of a mob will mate.
Altruistic? Meerkat forage with one “sentry” who guards for predators while the others
search for food. This duty lasts about an hour. The “sentry” makes peeping sounds when
all is well, if it spots danger it barks loudly or whistles. Their language, or rather,
communication includes six basic calls. Two sets detail land based predator like jackals or
aerial predator like eagles. Within those sets is the urgency of the distress. http://
www.beamreach.org/data/101/Science/processing/Kathryn/BEAM%20REACH/Papers/TO%20READ%20(if
%20time)/motivationinmeerkats.pdf
Much like why a baseball player rubs “eye black” under his eyes on a sunny day, the
black patches around a meerkat’s eyes helps to deflect the sun’s glare. Unfortunately for
aquarists, zookeepers, they don’t wear numbers like baseball players. Luckily the stripes
on the back are unique, a low tech version of a fingerprint.
Their chest hair is very sparse compared to the rest of their coat and their skin is black.
The temperature of their native Kalahari desert is cold at night. This leads to an
interesting behavior - that black skin is sometimes used as a solar collector. Observers
have noticed the animals emerging from their den standing at attention facing the sun in
groups to get the benefits of the warming rays of the sun. Checkout the Lion King movie
to see how animators used this in the film.
69
Some things to remember, meerkats are not cats, they’re from the mongoose family - and vocally gifted Drongos, by mimicking a number other species alarm calls, don’t get caught
they’re not related to geese either... As a wild animal, they’re illegal to keep in Connecticut and the meerkats, well... http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9149000/9149950.stm
(laws vary state to state). Good thing, one nickname is the fuzzy piranha.

If you think you’re ready, try this quiz. http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/meerkat-quiz.htm

Cichlids

About 1-2 millions years ago Lake Malawi started to form where two continental plates
Gallery 4.9 AFRICA TO THE SEA
were separating. Scientists think one single species of cichlid was introduced to the lake.
As the population spread around the lake they evolved, many dominating a specific
feeding niche. Today there are more species of cichlids in lake Malawi than there are
species of freshwater fish in all of Europe and North America combined. http://www.cichlid-
forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.phphttp://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.php http://
cichlidresearch.com/introducingcichlids.html

This is a sometimes aggressive fish that illustrates group behavior. In a small aquarium it’s
ok to be territorial if you live alone. Add a tankmate and fights breakout. Add a dozen
tankmates and the group picks on the little guy until he dies. And then they pick on the
next littlest guy and so on until you’re back to one guy living alone. But if you add 50
tankmates and it gets crowded, then nobody knows who the little guy is. In a large group
they all learn to live together - peacefully.

All species of cichlids provide some form of advanced parental care. One technique is
remarkable - mouthbrooding. The female will scoop up her eggs and store them (safely) in
her mouth. The male has some decoy spots (they look like eggs) near his anal fin?.
When he shows the female his belly she tries to pick up the eggs with her mouth. This
causes him to release his sperm and the eggs are fertilized.

Sometimes these behaviors backfire as another predator figures out “the Game”. Cuckoo Far from Long Island Sound are some amazing creatures with
Catfish are sly. The female will scatter some of her fertilized eggs near the resting Cichlid great stories. Pick a few, research them and you’ll have your tales
mouth brooders. The unsuspecting mother cichlid will scoop up the catfish egg and care
for one of the wildest places on the planet.
for it with her own. If the catfish hatches first it has an egg buffet in a protected
environment, the mother cichlids mouth. http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/catfishcichlid-
interactions-in-lake-malawi.htm

In the case of Meerkats, a bird, the Drongos (looks like a crow), mimics the alarm call of a
third species. The meerkats drop their meals and run for cover allowing the wily Drongos
to collect the unattended food. Crying wolf won’t get you very far for very long. The

70
References

Cichlids

Egg hunters http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/fish-breeding/egg-

hunters.aspx

PBS in a National Geographic documentary called "Jewel of the Rift" Part Two of the
"Heart of Africa"

71
Section 7

Collections - Shallows
Mosquitos - smelly - inaccessible are just a few words to describe the shallows. Gallery 4.10 Shallows
Biologist’s know these areas are the most important of all to life in the sound.
Without the shallows the young would never have a chance to grow and
reproduce. The circle of life would be broken.

In the mid 20th century, towns dug canals to drain these disease infested
lowlands. The dreaded mosquitos and their bite faded from the scene.
Development filled in and everyone was happy - for a while. In the latter part of
the century we witnessed the failure of fishery after fishery in the sound. Linked?

The balance of life requires all living things to reproduce, to replace themselves.
Too high a rate produces over population. Too low a rate and the species will
collapse.

Sawgrass doesn’t look exciting but if development destroys it, most of

the fish will fade away.

72
Section 8

Collections - Fresh Water

OUR OTTERS
Our otters are named Belle and Lew. Belle was born at the Bayou Otter Farm in Theoit,
LA in February 1995. This farm bred otters mainly to supply reintroduction programs in
Gallery 4.11 Critters of Fresh Water Galleries
other states but also occasionally provided them to zoological parks and aquariums. At
the age of 11 weeks she went to Undersea World in Crescent City, CA where she lived for
approximately a year before being acquired by The Maritime Aquarium.
Belle will often hide her food under the waterfall between the deep and shallow tanks.
She generally eats less in the morning and more in the afternoon. Belle seems to enjoy
playing with the rope toy. Unless otherwise indicated, our otter receives a physical once a
year by our veterinarian.

Lew was born in January 2003 in Florida. He was rehabilitated after having a negative
encounter with a domestic dog and re-homed to our facility at approx. 6 months of age.
He is larger than Belle.

North American River Otter Exhibit

In October of 1995 the staff of the aquarium and exhibits departments of The Maritime
Aquarium at Norwalk began conducting meetings to redevelop what was then known as
the Intertidal Gallery of the aquarium and the Boatbuilding area of Maritime Hall. The
ability to do this was made possible through a grant provided by the State of
Connecticut’s Department of Economic Development. Through visitor surveys conducted
several years earlier, it was shown that of the exhibits proposed the most appealing to our
visitors (63 %) was that of North American River Otters. For a variety of reasons, it was
decided that the Intertidal Gallery was the area best suited to house such an exhibit. The
search for an exhibit designer and general contractor began and in February of 1996 that
contract was awarded to Brian Rutledge of Naturally... Rutledge, Ltd. located in Denver,
CO. Demolition of the area began in March with the anticipation that the new exhibit
would open by the first of June, 1996.

River Otter The Connecticut Rivers exhibit was constructed to recreate an existing riverine habitat
found in Connecticut. The model for our exhibit was the Mianus River Gorge area located
in North Stamford, CT and Bedford, NY.

73
The otter exhibit is comprised of two tanks. The larger of the two was supplied by Exhibit
Technologies, Inc. and holds approximately 2,800 gallons at a depth of 44 inches. The
smaller (shallower) tank is the existing Low tide tank. It holds approximately 1800 gallons
at a depth of 31 inches. Two waterfalls have been included in the habitat. The first
provides a transition for water from the deep tank to enter the shallow tank. The second
waterfall is supplied directly from the filter and lends to the impression that the Connecticut
Rivers exhibit is flowing into the Otter exhibit. From the shallow tank the water exits the
exhibit through the skimmer where it goes to the basement. There, two, 1 1/2 hp pumps
force the water through two, 300 lb. sand filters and a heat exchanger before it returns to
exhibit. There the return water is divided supplying both the deep tank and the salmon
side waterfall.

Both tanks are made of fiberglass. The rockwork is comprised of both natural rocks as
well as Portland cement applied and tooled over a chicken wire framework formed over a
cement block base. The trees on each corner of the shallow tank are fiberglass. The
trees on each corner of the “shallow” tank are made of cast polyester resin. Natural
branches and logs can be seen throughout the interior of the exhibit as well as embedded
in the rockwork on the exterior of the exhibit. Because of the odiferous nature of
mustelids, the exhibit is equipped with its own ventilation system, which evacuates air from
the exhibit directly from the building.

Behind the exhibit are located three night holding cages. The goal behind this was, 1) to
provide a separate area for the otter to sleep thus keeping her more active within the
exhibit during public hours, and 2) to provide an area to hold the otter while work is being
done on the exhibit. Each cage has a guillotine style door which opens into a chase. This
chase then leads the otter into or out of the exhibit holding cages. The goal behind this
was, 1) to provide a separate, more brightly lit area for the otter to sleep thus reversing her
cycle and keeping her more active.

74
Section 9

Collections - Lost Travelers

The Gulf Stream is an intense, warm ocean current in the western North Gallery 4.12 Lost Travelers
Atlantic Ocean. It moves north along the coast of Florida and then turns
eastward off of North Carolina, branching and flowing northeast across the
Atlantic. Warm water eddies spin off toward Long Island Sound , especially
in late summer, bringing us an abundance of sea life.

The Gulf Stream transports nearly four billion cubic feet of water per second,
an amount greater than that carried by all of the world's rivers combined. Off
the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, the Gulf Stream flows at a rate
nearly 300 times larger than the typical flow of the Amazon River. The
velocity of the current is fastest near the surface, with the maximum speed of
nearly 6 miles per hour (nine kilometers per hour). The current slows to a
speed of about one mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour) as it widens to the
north. It’s all part of the North Atlantic gyre, the circle of water rotating
around from Northwest Africa across to the Americas and up and over to Periodically visitors from down south will hop a
Europe. ride on the gulf stream and end up in our area.
Many are not strong enough to make the return
voyage when our fall temperatures chill the
water. Manatees have been occasionally
spotted as far north as the Cape Cod

1 of 11

75
References

Manatee

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33534595/ns/us_news-environment/#.UUsWTqVG5wE

76
Section 10

Collections - Touch Tank

The Touch Tank collection extends from the pilings gallery to the schooling fish. Critter
sheets are available on many of the inhabitants of this area. Check out the extensive list
of pdf files on the volunteer dropbox.

The gallery 4.13 has a few of the “yet to be featured” critters.

Gallery 4.13 Creatures of the Touch Tank Corridor

Ocean Pout - Doesn’t look very happy... In the lottery of life, they
didn’t get a swim bladder so they rest on the bottom unless
they’re swimming.

77
Section 11
Collections - Open Ocean
The Red Drum
What is a Red Drum? Red Drum is a great sport and commercial fish. Anglers love them
because they put up a great fight. Commercial fishermen love them too much which has
led to over-fishing and strict rules. Color ranges from deep blackish coppery color to
nearly silver but normally it's reddish bronze. Most all have one or more black spots on
the tail. Geographically the names change, they are called "Colorado" in Mexico and
"Channel Bass" in Key West. Other names include redfish, rat red, bull red, or red. The
males make a drum sound with their swim bladder during spawning time and when in
trouble.
What are the spots for? Some scientists think the tail spots confuse predators into
attacking the tail instead of the head. It gives the fish a better chance to get away.
Relatives? The drum family includes Black Drum, Atlantic croaker, spot, and spotted sea
trout. Red and Black drum are very close and sometimes interbreed resulting in a robust
hybrid.
What do you call a baby drum? Until they reach sexual maturity around 4 years old, they
are called "puppy drums".
Anglers take note? In the fall, sometimes after a storm the red drums will come into the
shallows - the "bull redfish run". They've also been known to pull an unattended rod
overboard. Extra care is required to reduce mortality during catch and release. For
fisheries, the reds are classified as yearlings 0-15 pounds, The big fish, 15 or more
pounds, are usually released, they're not very good for eating…
Growth? Spawning in shallow estuaries July through December, the eggs hatch or
incubate in just 24 hours. Red Drum reaches about 11 inches and one pound in its first
year. After three years they can be 22-24 inches and 6-8 pounds. They generally feed on
small shrimp, fish and crabs. Experts disagree on exact figures but we believe females
may spawn every 3-5 days in season and lay a million eggs each spawn. Sources say
anywhere from two million eggs a season to the tens of millions. Regardless, it's a lot of
kids. Life span can be 60 years reaching 5' and ~90 pounds. A normal weight would be
~40 pounds.Habitat? It changes - as youths to about age 3-6, they like shallow water,
sometimes just 1-4 feet, and can often be seen swimming with their backs exposed above
the water. As they age they migrate to near shore habitats. During cold spells they have
been known to congregate in tidal creeks and rivers. They can be found in fresh water
sometimes miles upriver.
What is tailing? When eating in shallow waters, drums sometimes forage on the bottom
head down and tail straight up, above the water.
Eating? In texture Red Drums resemble chicken, a firm solid meat that does not flake like
most fish. It was the secret ingredient in an Iron Chef America episode on the cooking
channel in March 2009.
How do they make sounds? The swim bladders, those gas filled organs that allow the
fish to maintain a given depth. However they're not Scottish bag-pipes. These fish are
designed with a special "sonic" muscle attached to the swim bladder. The bladder
amplifies the noise so it can be heard at a considerable distance.
Why don't we hear them? The surface of the water, the
Audio 4.1 Red scientists call this the water-air interface, reflects sounds.
Drum It's difficult for our sounds to be heard underwater. The
reverse is also true, their sounds aren't readily heard
above the water. But water is dense and is a very
efficient transmitter of sound, 4 ½ times better. In Red
Drums it sounds pretty close to a drum sound. Scientist
Hear the Red know very little about their vocabulary. Fishermen will
Drum put their ears to the hull of their boat to locate the fish.
78
A "drum" cousin in China is unfortunately under great threat of extiction, partly because of
advances in technology. It seems the Yellow Drum or Bahaba is extremely valuable to the
practictioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Recently a single fish, 130 kg, was sold for
$500,000. The introduction of inexpensive hydrophones makes it difficult to hide if you
can't keep quiet!
For a short video on fish sounds, see the "How Stuff Works" - Fooled by nature video on
"Fish Mating calls" at
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/science-channel/5080-discoveries-fish-mating-calls-
video.htm

Gallery 4.14 Open Ocean

Black Drum - The barbels on the chin help detect food like clams on
the seafloor

January 2005, residents of Cape Coral, Florida were pushing the City Council to approve a
$47,000 engineering study to eliminate the noise reverberating through their homes.
Hours before the vote, a doctoral student in marine science called a council member and
explained the black drum mating call, at 100 to 500 hertz, might be to blame. It seems the
wavelength and frequency are low enough to pass through sea walls, into the ground and
through the construction of waterfront homes like the passing car with too much bass in
the subwolfer. It seems Black Drum had taken a liking to the canal system in Cape Coral.
The nightly booming is like a water drip torture that

79
Section 12
Collections - Sea Turtles
Loggerhead Turtles
Description: Sea Turtles are among the most ancient creatures on earth. These reptiles
have been around for 150 million years. Loggerheads have a massive head with a brown
to reddish-brown hard carapace (top shell) and medium-yellow plastron (bottom shell).
Average adults are 250 lbs with 3’ shells. It’s a surprisingly fast sprinter at up to 15 mph.
Most dives are 15-30 minutes with max of 6-7 hrs. Loggerheads are “Threatened”. All six
other sea turtles species are “Endangered”.
Range: Circum-global – concentrations on the Atlantic coasts of North and South
America, and Europe, Africa & Japan to Mexico. Most common sea turtle found in
southeastern US. Cold water makes them lethargic. Can bury itself in mud.
Diet: Eats bottom dwelling invertebrates (Clams, crabs, sea urchins, whelks, conches and
the occasional scavenger of fish parts). Special glands allow it to drink salt water. Jellies
are a good snack. No apparent effects from the stingers, will wipe tentacles out of its
eyes with a flippers. Susceptible to ingesting clear plastic bags (look like jellies). TMA
diet includes squid, capelin, processed gelatin and lettuce.
Reproductive maturity, 15-30 years. Mating season, March-June. 2-6 non-nesting years.
Females return to original (natal) beach to nest (rookeries). Can exhibit multiple paternity
(up to 5). Nest at night about 3-5 times a season laying about 35 lbs of eggs. In the
southeastern US, adult females nest late April up to early September, peak in June and
July. Clutch size – 105-120 eggs along the southeastern US coast. Fewer than 1 in 1,000
hatchlings survive to adulthood. If they do, their life expectancy is 30-50 years. Local
businesses have “blackouts” on the beach during summer to avoid confusing the
hatchlings as they swim for the horizon (usually a moonlit/starlit sea horizon). Incubation
period inversely related to temperature. (Florida 53-55 days, Georgia 63-68). Gender
determined by temperature of the sand during incubation with <82 or 83 degrees yielding
mostly males, >87 degrees mostly female. Issue! – Global warming…
Predators: man, sharks & orcas. Shell is thickest in the back (deters sharks). By-catch
annually from shrimp, tuna and swordfish fisheries – xx,000 (all species) drown in
fishermen’s nets. Today, US waters require a Turtle Excluder Device on the net.
Illness - Fibropapillomas are surface tumors. We think our TMA loggerhead was infected
by a green turtle at its former home. It’s treated by abrading (filing) off the lump. The
TMA Loggerhead was born in 1992, raised in NC and donated by NJ State Aquarium. It is
currently upstairs, off exhibit. The newer green turtles were picking on it.
Green Sea Turtles
Description: The largest hard-shelled sea turtle averaging 4-5’ and 350-440 lbs. The
carapace changes color from black to various shades of gray, green, brown and black,
forming swirls and irregular patterns on their shells. Named for their greenish fat brought
on by their vegetarian diet of sea grasses and algae. Dives can be 30 minutes and about
two hours when sleeping. Life span is 80-100 yrs.
Range: Green sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered throughout their habitat.
The green sea turtle is found world-wide in warm ocean waters. Not unusual for the
Pacific green turtle to sun bathe in the warm sun on the beach.
Nesting similar to Loggerheads, slightly more eggs in a clutch, 136 avg. and later to reach
sexual maturity 20-50 yrs. Only 1 in 1,000 survive to adulthood. Long migrations (up to
1,400 miles) from feeding areas to breeding to nesting beaches.
Fun Facts: The most valuable of all reptiles, they are killed for food, oil, leather and
jewelry. Look like they’re crying when they shed salt from their eyes. The TMA Green
Sea Turtles were born in 2006
80
Sea Turtle Tank References

25’ in diameter. Water is 4’ to 5’ deep, 15,000 gallons salt water, and is filtered every 30
minutes. Temperature is 76-78 degree F.
Moray Eel
Discover, Ed Yong, Aug 10, 2009 “Moray eels attack with second pair of 'Alien-style' jaws”
https://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2009/08/10/moray-eels-attack-with-second-pair-of-alien-
style-jaws/#.UUXguaVG5wG

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7158/abs/nature06062.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Rv2DkzOPBXw
Gallery 4.15 Sea Turtle Tank
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_2/moraysNEW.htm

Lookdown

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/12/fish

The loggerhead is curious and loves to pose for

pictures.

1 of 13

81
Section 13

Collections - Amphibians
Amphibians include frogs, toads and salamanders
Gallery 4.16 Amphibians
Frogs are amphibians, animals that spend part of their lives under water and the
remainder on land. They have long, powerful jumping legs and a very short backbone.
Most frogs have teeth (in the upper jaws only) but toads do not have any teeth. In harsh
climates , frogs bury themselves in sand and mud and hibernate through the cold winter.
They eat insects, catching them with their long, sticky tongue. They also eat small fish
and worms.

Toads are amphibians that spend the early part of their lives under water (as eggs and
tadpoles) and the remainder on land. These nocturnal animals hunt at night and spend
the day sheltered in a cool spot. Toads spend less time in the eater than frogs. Toads are
found all over the world except polar environments and Australia. Toads have poison
glands (called parotids)) behind their eyes, a chubby body, warty skin and shorter legs
than frogs. Females are larger than males. Only males have a vocal sac.

Salamanders are amphibians that retain their tail as an adult. They are animals that
begin their lives in the water breathing with gills; as they mature, they develop lungs and Countrymen, lend me your ears!
breathe air. Salamanders look like lizards without scales. They are found mostly in the
Northern Hemisphere (North America, Europe, and Asia). On average, adult salamanders
are about 4 to 8 inches long. Most have four short legs, but some species only have front
legs. There are four toes on each of the front legs , and five toes on each of the hind
legs. The tail is laterally compressed (it is taller than it is wide) and often has a crest. In
some arboreal (tree-dwelling) salamanders, the tail is prehensile (able to grasp). As
salamanders grow, they lose the outer layer of the old skin and eat.

82
References

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/axolotl/

83
Chapter 5

Emergency
Procedures &
Admin
The role of the Gallery Guide includes the care and
well being of both the collection and our visitors.
Knowing and practicing what to do in case of an
emergency can mean the difference between saving
and losing lives.
 IMPORTANT!

The volunteer staff is our first line of defense in case of an emergency. Your responsibility
in the case of an alarm includes marshalling visitors out of the building and leading
your group to the evacuation assembly area located at the river side gazebo near
the front door or secondly by the IMAX entrance.

If you discover an emergency or “situation”:

• Report it!

• In the case of a small, controllable fire please use the nearest hand held fire
extinguisher.

Movie 5.1 Fire Safety Plan

Know your exits! Take a few minutes to go exploring

behind the scenes. Please click to view the Fire
Safety Plan.

85
Section 1

Commitment
Gallery Guides make quarterly commitments to the program by submitting a Time Shift
Commitment Sheet. Scheduling staff use these requests to insure we have balanced Interactive 5.1 Admin
resources throughout the quarter.

Shifts are scheduled in 4-hour blocks 9:30 -1:30 or 1:00 to 5:00. Weekday Volunteers
are expected to sign up for one shift per week or 52 hours per quarter, slightly more in the
summer. If you need to reschedule a shift please suggest several alternatives. This
allows the scheduling to fill in where we may be thin. Student volunteers are expected to
commit one shift per month during the school year.

Summer schedule: The aquarium is open an extra hour in July and August - 10 to 6.
Shifts are expanded to 4 1/2 hours, choose either the AM shift from 9:30 - 2:00 or the PM
shift from 1:30 to 6:00. Student volunteers are required to work one weekday shift per
week for the whole summer, and one weekend shift per month for the whole summer.

First time volunteers completing the nine session training class incur an minimum
obligation of 50 volunteer hours over the course of a year.

We encourage summer student volunteers. Take the accelerated training class (late
June) and complete an abbreviated volunteer obligation before school starts in the fall.

Over time people’s ability to commit may come and go but at the Aquarium you’re always
welcome back. After meeting your initial obligation you can scale back or continue to
maintain your active status. Non-scientific questions answered here. Tap to advance through the
slides.
What is active status? New volunteers completing the On-The-Job probationary period of
50 hrs and who meet the minimum criteria on an ongoing basis are entitled to a number of
benefits including unlimited aquarium access for you and 1 guest and reduced rates in the
gift shop.

86
Section 2

Life Long Learning

The Maritime Aquarium is always refreshing its collection. WIth 300-400 species and Gallery 5.1 There’s always more to learn
countless exhibits there is a lot to learn. In any given year that number can swell with a
new exhibit. To make things new and interesting and to give patrons a reason to come
back the collection is, necessarily, constantly changing.

We can never learn it all and with the advances in science - sometimes we learn we didn’t
get it right the first time. After all, it took a while to learn the world wasn’t flat.

If you’re reading this you’re already part of the team. We need the eyes and ears of
critical thinkers who not only accept the “company line”, but are willing to bring new
discoveries and research to our attention. Beyond our borders we hope that one day the
research will include the names and contributions of TMA volunteer alumni and the
visitors we’ve inspired.

Whether you’re a student or just curious, the aquarium has a number of additional
education opportunities;

• In the guest lecturer category, we have reduced rate options for guaranteed seating.
The 2012-13 series included Polar Explorers, Sylvia Earle, Jack Hanna and Philippe
Cousteau. We also have highly discounted options for last minute unsold tickets.

The gallery guide intro class and the manual are just a start. The real
learning starts once you get here!

87
Acknowledgements
& Resources
Cover Photo - NASA

Axolotol
Basic Fact Sheet http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/amphibians/axolotl/

Gooseneck Barnancles
“Sea Bites” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcH7z_GVwAc
“Making of Sea Bites” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47lfyxcNdsw

Features
How Emperor Penguins use bubbles to increase their speed.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/02/pictures/130219-56th-world-press-photo-best-news-pictures/#/world-press-photo-2013-emperor-penguins_64493_600x450.jpg

Draft Preview March 24, 2013

lxxxviii
Drift

The ice masses scoured vast quantities of rock and soil from the land as they moved south. It is believed that the Late
Wisconsin Glacier eroded an average of 20 meters of surface materials from the preglacial New England landscape. The
estimate is based on the quantity of all sediments deposited as a result of glacial activity that are found on and offshore in the
New England region. Such glacial sediments are collectively known as drift .

Related Glossary Terms

Drag related terms here

Index Find Term

Chapter 3 - Geology
Estuary

a protected coastal body of water with open connections to the sea, in which saline seawater is measurably diluted by fresh
water. Ocean water flows in and out of the Sound through the opening in the eastern end, known as the Race. Fresh water,
from the rivers entering the Sound, dilutes the seawater. Estuarine properties are repeated on a smaller scale in the many
harbors and river mouths in the Sound. Thus, Long Island Sound is a large estuary with many smaller estuaries, such as New
Haven Harbor and the mouth of the Connecticut River, at its edge.

Related Glossary Terms

Drag related terms here

Index Find Term

Chapter 3 - Geology
Outwash

The basin of Long Island Sound, which predates glaciation and is probably a stream-carved feature, received a relatively thick
cover of sand and gravel as the ice front receded. Such materials, deposited by glacial melt water streams, are termed
outwash .

Related Glossary Terms

Drag related terms here

Index Find Term

Chapter 3 - Geology
Terminal moraine

18,000 years ago, the ice sheet was at its maximum size, extending across the present Long Island Sound basin to southern
Long Island. The southern margin of the glacier remained there for a time in an “equilibrium” position, as the movement of the
ice southward was offset by the melting of the ice front due to a regional warming trend. At this time, a large quantity of drift
was deposited, known as a terminal moraine.

Related Glossary Terms

Drag related terms here

Index Find Term

Chapter 3 - Geology