Underside view: a fresh angle on the seafloor
A new exhibit featuring bottom-dwellers from the Sea of Japan has been established at the Primorsky Aquarium. Now, one can observe helmet and Alaskan hermit crabs, white-edged and Korean rockfish, scallops and sea peaches after “total immersion” in the tank equipped with a transparent dome.
“From our visitors’ behaviour at the touch pool, we found out which residents of the Sea of Japan were of most interest to them, and collected those very animals to form a new exhibit. The design of the tank allows watching them from different perspectives, including from inside of the tank, and at this angle everything looks a bit different,” said Natalia Puchkova, Senior Specialist at the Department of the Russian Far East Marine Organisms. “It is particularly fascinating to view hermit crabs during feedings. As soon as food gets into the tank, the crabs begin constantly moving about the bottom: they “bully” each other, and even if one of them has received its portion of lunch, it does not prevent this individual from trying to take away another crab’s feed — at these moments they roll around together. The rockfish do not always live in peace either but brief clashes take place within a species; in general, all of the tank inhabitants get along well with each other.”
The new exhibit is structured in such a way that some of its residents can be seen only from the dome viewing area. For instance, the alga Corallina pilulifera that has spread a lace of its bright pink calcareous branches at the back wall of the tank is invisible from any other perspective.