This colony of Cassiopeia Jellyfish, is also known as the “upside down Jellyfish”
Cassiopeia are often mistaken as Sea Anemone, though they can sting it is not very venomous or deadly, they also do not sting very often.
These particular type of Jellyfish are filter feeders. They extend their frilly tentacles up into the water column where they capture Planktonic food and absorb light that is used by photosynthetic algae that are housed in their tissue.
Saltwater Queen Conch
These Periwinkle Snails have a modified tongue called a radula that acts as
an algae scraper.
Come check out our interactive programs during our Knowledge Days here at the Aquarium!
Every Clownfish is born as a male. Clownfish live under a strict hierarchy with the group ruled by a single dominant female in charge of producing offspring. When she dies, the head male undergoes a gender change and becomes the dominant female ruling the rest of the males once more.
Come visit our male Green Iguana, Westley, at the Portland Aquarium!
Sometimes sea stars rest directly on the viewing glass in our tanks. When they do, you get an excellent view of the undersides of their bodies, including their “tube feet.” These tube feet provide many types of echinoderms (such as sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins) with locomotive capabilities.
- Jill J.
New exhibit! Sea Nettles at the Portland Aquarium!
These guys can now be seen in our Jellyfish wall across from the Octopus in Gallery 2!
Most of the visitors don’t get to see the Red Eyed Tree Frogs up and moving about because they are nocturnal hunters. They normally wake up when the lights go out.
The mouth of a Parrotfish is a sharp beak known as the “Pharyngeal Grille” which the parrotfish uses to scrape algae off the reef and crunch up coral. The beak is made up of hundreds of hexagonal cells that regenerate, growing out from the fish’s gums. As the fringes of the beak break away, new cells push forward so the parrotfish always has plenty of beak for scraping and crunching its favorite foods.
