A severed spiny starfish leg is growing itself a new body at Bristol Aquarium. Aquarists discovered the detached leg in one of the Harbourside attraction’s native marine displays. Noticing it had part of its central disc attached, they decided to leave it in the display alongside the remaining four-legged starfish. Displays Supervisor Olivia Orchart said: … Continued
Winter Maintenance Work at Bristol Aquarium *We are pleased to announce this work has now been completed, to read about the project and see pictures please click here!* We are embarking on some major renovation work to our large native marine display over the winter. The work is part of our ongoing improvement programme for … Continued
A bizarre species of tropical ‘walking’ shark has arrived at Bristol Aquarium. The epaulette shark gets its name from the dark spots on its fins which resemble the ornamental shoulder patches on a military uniform. It can grow up to a metre in length and can survive in shallow tropical waters of only a few … Continued
Pupils from a Somerset school have helped create a brand new orchid display at Bristol Aquarium. Students from Writhlington School, in Radstock joined resident horticulturist Wendy Desyllas and staff in the Harbourside attraction’s giant botanic glasshouse to build the new feature. The ‘Cloud Forest’ display incorporates dozens of exotic orchid species planted in to logs … Continued
Aquarists at Bristol Aquarium have created special ‘passports’ for each of their resident turtles. The move comes after a recent growth in the number of incidents where turtles and tortoises have either been taken from, or dumped at, wildlife attractions across the country. In the past a number of freshwater turtles have been smuggled in … Continued
A suitably spooky skeletor eel is making its first public appearance at Bristol Aquarium in the run up to Halloween. The tropical moray eel gets its name from its markings which resemble those of a skeleton. Skeletor eel being fed at Bristol Aquarium. Despite its scary name and razor-sharp teeth the eel is actually relatively … Continued
Bristol Aquarium’s newest arrival is perfect for Halloween – it’s a baby batfish that thinks it’s a poisonous flatworm. The captive-bred dusky batfish, which is one of six at the Harbourside attraction, mimics the colour, shape and movements of a toxic species of sea worm to avoid predators. To enhance the quality of their deadly … Continued
Bristol Aquarium is to celebrate World Octopus Day with a weekend of special events and activities (Saturday, October 8th – Sunday, October 9th). This year’s event will be the 10th annual international celebration of the amazing octopus as well as other members of the cephalopod family. The star of the show will be the Harbourside … Continued
A sextet of endangered thornback rays, which were born at the start of the year, are thriving at Bristol Aquarium. The nine-month-old rays, which are being cared for in a special juvenile display, are part of an ongoing captive breeding programme for the native UK species. Despite being the UK’s commonest type of ray, the … Continued
Aquarists at Bristol Aquarium have created a purpose-built display filled with holes to accommodate a group of metre-long moray eels. Staff at the Harbourside attraction built a series of interconnecting holes and passages into the rockwork of the display to mimic the tropical morays habitats in the wild. The group of snowflake and zebra eels, … Continued