Bristol Aquarium is awash with close to a century of spiky starfish. The five-legged invertebrates have been donated to the Harbourside attraction after being caught by fishermen. The bumper haul was initially looked after in the aquarium’s quarantine area before being distributed throughout their native marine displays. To celebrate their arrival, aquarists have set up … Continued
A banana palm has flowered for the first time in the giant glasshouse at Bristol Aquarium. The dwarf Cavendish tree has been part of the botanical collection at the Harbourside attraction for five years but has waited until now to begin flowering. The sudden appearance of the large purplish flowers should signal a crop of … Continued
Bristol Aquarium is inviting visitors to come up with a name for their newly-arrived baby catshark. The tiny shark, a member of the native catshark family, is thriving in a temporary nursery tank alongside a colony of curious seahorses. Staff at the Harbourside attraction are asking the public to name the new arrival and say … Continued
Hermit crab ‘twin’ leaves staff shell-shocked Shell-shocked staff at Bristol Aquarium thought they were seeing double when they discovered Herman, their giant tropical hermit crab, apparently sharing his display with an identical twin. On closer inspection it became clear the ‘twin’ was in fact a rare complete moult. The delicate moult is an exact replica … Continued
A colony of giant seahorses at Bristol Aquarium are enjoying a new addition to their naturally-themed display – in the form of a large anchor, now resting on the seabed. As well as providing a nautical-theme to their tank, it is hoped it will also encourage the seahorses to ‘anchor’ themselves all over it at … Continued
Bristol Aquarium is inviting visitors to enjoy a Deeply Creepy experience during the October Half Term Holidays (Saturday, October 25th – Sunday, November 2nd). Step inside the spooky sunken shipwreck and embark on a Halloween-themed voyage of discovery featuring eerie encounters with a cast of fishy fiends including awesome octopus, electric eels, wolf fish, piranhas … Continued
Bristol Aquarium is enjoying a bumper crop of giant loofahs in its tropical glasshouse. The Harbourside attraction has been overwhelmed by the number and scale of the bizarre-looking members of the cucumber family which have grown on a three-storey vine in the massive botanical house. Now staff are working on how to harvest the giant … Continued
Visitors to Bristol Aquarium are having the unique opportunity of watching a fish change sex before their eyes. The rarely-seen transformation is taking place to a native cuckoo wrasse in the Harbourside attraction’s UK Waters area. The 40-centimetre-long fish is changing from a female to a male. The process, which is taking place over a … Continued
Aquarists have collected more than 24 shark egg-cases following an underwater egg-hunt at Bristol Aquarium. The aquarists collected the eggs, or ‘Mermaids’ purses’, attached to rocks in the aquarium’s Bay of Rays display while they were on cleaning duty. A number of the eggs have already hatched and tiny sharks can be seen wriggling inside … Continued
A pride of venomous lionfish has gone on display at Bristol Aquarium. Six of the brown and white striped fish have taken up residence in the Harbourside wildlife attraction’s new predators’ display which is also home to pufferfish, boxfish and longhorn cowfish. Normally found living among the coral reefs of Pacific Ocean, the fish are … Continued