Rogers Gardens, Royal Khyber, Aquarium 12/17/2012

Did You Know? - In the Roman Empire, the first fish to be brought indoors was the sea barbel, which was kept under guest beds in small tanks made of marble. Introduction of glass panes around the year 50 AD allowed Romans to replace one wall of marble tanks, improving their view of the fish.

In 1369, the Chinese Emperor, Hóngwǔ, established a porcelain company that produced large porcelain tubs for maintaining goldfish; over time, people produced tubs that approached the shape of modern fish bowls.

Did You Know? - The sawsharks or saw sharks are an order (Pristiophoriformes) of sharks bearing long blade-like snouts edged with teeth, which they use to slash and disable their prey. Most occur in waters from South Africa to Australia and Japan, at depths of 40 metres (130 ft) and below; in 1960 the Bahamas sawshark was discovered in the deeper waters (640 m to 915 m) of the northwestern Caribbean.

Did You Know? - Second in popularity only to the escargot for edible snails, the meat of conches is used as food, either eaten raw, as in salads, or cooked, as in fritters, chowders, gumbos, and burgers. All parts of the conch meat are edible.[2] However, some people find only the white meat appetizing.

In East Asian cuisines, this seafood is often cut into thin slices and then steamed or stir-fried.

In the West Indies (and Turks and Caicos Islands in particular), local people eat conch in soups (commonly callaloo) and salads. Restaurants all over the islands serve this particular meat.

Did You Know? - The most common anaesthetic technique in fish is to add the anaesthetic agent in the water. It is similar to inhalation anaesthesia in terrestrial animals.

An artificial ventilation system is necessary in procedures of more than 10 minutes or in all but the shortest out-of-water anaesthetics. A bifurcated pipe or mouth piece should be placed in the buccal cavity to deliver aerated anaesthetic solution across the gills. Nonrecirculating and recirculating systems are available.

Adjustement of the drug concentration in response to depth of anaesthesia is difficult with immersion anaesthesia. Different concentrations of anaesthetic solutions can be prepared in different bags that can be exchanged if necessary. Small amounts of anaesthetic fluid can be delivered directly to the gills via a bulb syringe without disconnecting the fish from the system.

Did You Know? - The garden eels are the subfamily Heterocongrinae in the conger eel family Congridae. The greatest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific, but there are also species in warmer parts of the Atlantic Ocean (including the Caribbean) and East Pacific.

These small eels live in burrows on the sea floor and get their name from their practice of poking their heads from their burrows while most of their bodies remain hidden.

Since they tend to live in groups, the many eel heads "growing" from the sea floor resemble the plants in a garden. They vary greatly in colour depending on the exact species involved. The largest species reaches about 120 cm (47 in) in length, but most species do not surpass 60 cm (24 in).

Did You Know? - Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. There are c. 950 species of echinoids inhabiting all oceans from the intertidal to 5000 meters deep. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) across. Common colors include black and dull shades of green, olive, brown, purple, and red. They move slowly, feeding mostly on algae. Sea otters, wolf eels, triggerfish, and other predators feed on them. Their "roe" (actually the gonads) is a delicacy in many cuisines.

The name "urchin" is an old name for the round spiny hedgehogs that sea urchins resemble.

Did You Know? - Amazon milk frogs are fairly large frogs, reaching sizes of 2.5 to 4 inches in length. Adult frogs are light grey in colour with brown or black banding, while juveniles will exhibit stronger contrasts. As Amazon Milk Tree Frogs age their skin will develop a slightly bumpy texture.

The "milk" in the name comes from the milky-coloured fluid these frogs excrete when stressed.