Aquarium

Porcupine Pufferfish

Our Porcupine Puffer is named Puff Mamma! On several occasions she has become pleasantly plump and expelled thousands of eggs into her tank making it look like a 1,000-gallon snow globe.  They do not produce baby puffers without a male around to fertilize the eggs.  The infertile eggs would rot and foul the water, so they must be quickly removed.  Her favorite food is crabs.  From time to time, we offer her a live crab, which is a natural food item.  She gets to use her strong teeth and powerful jaws that are perfectly adapted for crushing and consuming the entire shellfish.  it is cosmopolitan, meaning it is found in the tropical Oceans, Seas and Gulfs around the world. Their strong teeth are fused together to form a powerful "beak-like" structure. They eat various "shellfish" such as crabs, shrimp, snails, etc., which they simply crush with their strong teeth. Their teeth continually grow, so from time to time the puffer will chew on shells, rock, or coral to maintain their teeth. Our specimen will bite off concrete and chew it down to gravel. When ours inflates she is the size of a basketball (though we don't want her to do so) Puffers exhibit facial recognition and in captivity will eagerly greet their keepers and often back away from strangers.  

Green Moray Eel

    Our Green Moray Eel is named "Egor II", named after his predecessor from many years ago, "Egor".He requires a secure net to be attached over the tank, or else Egor II would crawl out like a snake.  He is spoiled and likes to be hand-fed.  When he smells food in the water he goes straight to "his" back corner where food is offered to him through the mesh of the netting. His favorite food is gulf shrimp tails, the kind we boil and "peel-n-eat", except we don't peel or cook his shrimp.  It has been documented that Green Moray Eels in the wild often partner with another large fish of a different species, even patrolling their territory together.  In our display the Green Moray and the Porcupine puffer have such partnership.  They can often be found touching one another throughout the day, as if they find security in knowing the other is there.  They are found in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to the New Jersey. The skin is olive to brown in color; a thick yellow slime coat gives a healthy specimen its green appearance. They can exceed 8 feet in length and weigh around 50 pounds Moray Eels are fish and they have an excellent sense of smell. They are nocturnal and hunt at night, however in captivity they adapt to our daytime routines. On the reef, certain fish and shrimps called "cleaners" often live with the eel.  The eel welcomes the cleaners, since they remove and eat parasites from the eel, as well as food from the eel's teeth.

Caribe Piranhas

Pygocentrus cariba

South American fish with razor-sharp teeth ranging from northern Argentina to Colombia, but they are most diverse in the Amazon River, where 20 different species are found.

We have 35 piranhas here at Memphis Zoo! Their favorite snack is Capelin or Shrimp. Our group of Caribe Piranhas joined our aquarium collection in July of 2019. The Caribe Piranhas enjoy hanging out in their school, occasionally chasing each other.  Like piranhas in the wild, they remain relatively still, waiting for their next meal.  The Caribe Piranha, or Black Spot Piranha, are native to the South American rainforest and can be found schooling in warm streams and lakes.These fish are characterized by their red fins and belly, as well as their grey-brown body that is speckled with gold and silver flecks. They get their name from the large black spot behind their gills.Piranhas are famous for their sharp teeth and aggressive appetite.  They will eat any type of meat available, from fish and insects to birds and rodents! Piranhas are normally found in schools that hunt together in feeding frenzies.  These large groups also deter predators from attacking.Piranhas have a single row of tightly packed, interlocking, triangular shaped teeth used for puncturing and shearing.  These teeth are replaceable!  If a tooth is lost, they can grow a new one in its place! Normally, Caribe Piranhas are between 6-10 inches in length when fully grown, but some individuals have been reported to be up to 24 inches!