20 INTERESTING FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW FOR YOUR VISIT TO

L’AQUÀRIUM
We want to make sure you don't miss out on some of the most surprising facts about
L’Aquàrium's inhabitants. Have a good underwater journey!

AQUARIUM 1: SHALLOW ROCKY-COAST

COMMUNITY
Have you noticed the moray eel's markings? Like other
animals, those yellow and black colours warn of
danger. Did you know that their blood serum was used
as a poison during Roman times?

Muraena helena

AQUARIUM 2: SHALLOW SANDY-COAST

COMMUNITY
If you look at the sand closely, you will see some
of our soles. It isn't always that easy, because
they can change colour for camouflage.
Experiments have shown that when these flatfish
are placed on a chessboard, they can take on its
chequered pattern.
Solea sp.

AQUARIUM 3:THE EBRO DELTO

Eels are fish that migrate in order to spawn. After
living in a river for 20 years, the adult eels begin
the long journey to lay their eggs in the Sargasso
Sea, between Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Once they
have hatched, the larval eels are swept back
towards the Mediterranean, where they try to
swim upriver. If they succeed, they turn into
females, and if they stay in the river mouths they
become male.

Anguilla anguilla

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 Sturgeons, the largest fish you can see in the
third aquarium, can reach a length of up to 8
metres.
Their eggs are used to make the most prized
kind of real caviar, known as Beluga caviar.

Huso huso

AQUARIUM 5: POSIDONIA MEADOWS

We are looking at an underwater meadow, a seagrass
or posidonia community (Posidonia oceanica). In
addition to oxygenating the water and providing
shelter for young fish, it helps to stabilise the seabed,
protecting beaches from storms. This is why it is a
protected species in Catalan territorial waters. The
meadow's most common colonisers are sea urchins,
starfish and fanworm.

Posidonia oceanica

SEAHORSES
With their horse-like heads and monkey tails,
seahorses are small fish that swim in an upright
position.
Their famous nuptial dance is spectacular. The
female lays around 200 eggs inside the male's
incubating pouch, which he fertilises and then
incubates for about 4 weeks. He looks like he's
pregnant!

Hippocampus sp.

AQUARIUM 9: SEA ANEMONES

Take care! Sea anemones are related to jellyfish
and corals. These invertebrates spend their lives
stuck to rocks. They have stinging cells, known
as cnidocytes, which they use for capturing
their prey and defending themselves. Only the
clownfish can live among some tropical sea
anemone.

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 AQUARIUM 11: RED CORAL COMMUNITY
If you see a red fish that isn't moving and has a full
mouth, it may be a cardinalfish. The male of this species
incubates their eggs in its mouth, where it protects them
until they hatch, after about 8 days.

Apogon imberbis

AQUARIUM 12: TROPICAL SHARKS

Some sharks, like the blacktip reef shark
(Carcharhinus melanopterus) would drown if
they stopped swimming.

Others, like the nocturnal whitetip reef shark

(Triaenodon obesus), can actively pump
water through their gills and keep breathing
even when they aren't moving. If you see
them at the bottom of the aquarium, don't
worry! They are probably sleeping!

AQUARIUM 13: THE SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN CLOWNFISH AND SEA ANEMONES

Tropical sea anemones often act as hosts to the
likeable clownfish, establishing a mutually
beneficial relationship. Clownfish protect
themselves by swimming among the poisonous
tentacles of sea anemones, and in turn, the sea
anemones make use of food particles that the
clownfish drop when they are feeding. The
clownfish also help to keep the anemones free
from parasites, as well as fanning them with their
fins to increase water circulation, which improves
their oxygen supply.
Amphiprion sp.

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AQUARIUM 17: POISONOUS FISH
The most poisonous fish in the world is the stonefish,
whose poison is 200 times more powerful than that of
cobras. Its sting can kill a person in 20 seconds. If they
are lucky enough to avoid death, by taking the specific
antidote in time, recovery can be very slow.
It hunts by keeping still and quickly trapping its prey by
suction when they pass close to its hiding place.
Its mottled, warty appearance makes it
indistinguishable from the rocks around it. Can you see
through its camouflage?
Synanceia verrucosa

AQUARIUM 18: OCEANARIUM

Carcharhinus plumbeus Carcharias taurus

There are two easily distinguishable types of shark in the Oceanarium, the sandbar shark
(Carcharhinus plumbeus), which is grey, slim and keeps its mouth closed, and the sand tiger shark
(Carcharias taurus) which has brown markings and always swims with its mouth open. If you look
closely, you might see a tooth that is about to fall out. Their teeth are pointed and, like all sharks,
they have several rows of replacement teeth.

AQUARIUM 19: SMALL SPOTTED CATSHARK

The small-spotted catshark is a
small shark bred at L’Aquàrium.
You might have seen its eggs
earlier in the "children's area",
near Aquarium 5. Because of
their particular shape, they are
known as mermaid's purse.
Scyliorhinus canicula

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AQUARIUM: 20 OCTOPUSES
Did you know that octopuses are masters of
camouflage? They can quickly adapt their
colouring and the surface of their bodies to the
environment around them. Their colouring can
also help us to interpret their state of mind. If
they are "angry" they turn red; if they are
frightened, white... Just like us!
Octopus vulgaris

PLANETA AQUA (TROPICAL RIVER): BASILISKS

The green basilisk or Jesus Christ lizard, is a species that
is native to Latin America. They can run at a speed of 11
kph on top of the water, due to the special membranes
they have on their feet. They are good swimmers and
can stay underwater for over 30 minutes.

Basiliscus plumifrons

PLANETAQUA(TROPICALRIVER):PIRANHAS
The red piranha has a prominent jaw with sharp,
triangular teeth. They are only dangerous during
the dry season, when the water level drops and
they get trapped in isolated stretches of water,
where their food supply starts to run out. This is
when they are at their most aggressive and may
attack large animals or even eat each others.

Serrasalmus natererii

PLANETA AQUA: PENGUINS

The greediest animals in L’Aquàrium are the penguins. They can
eat up to 14% of their own weight a day. In comparison, sharks in
general, and the aquarium sharks in particular, only eat from 0.5
to 1% of their body weight a day.

Spheniscus humboldti

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PLANETA AQUA (SPERM WHALE): JELLYFISH
In Spanish, jellyfish are also known as "sea
butterflies", because, just like butterflies and
caterpillars, they present two forms during their
life cycle. Jellyfish reproduce sexually, creating a
different kind of animal, called polyps, which
are sessile and live on the seabed. These
animals then reproduce asexually to produce
new jellyfish.

Aurelia sp.

PLANETA AQUA (MEZANNINE): AXOLOTL

You could say that the axolotl is always a “child”.
They spend their whole lives in a larval state, even
when they are adults. In biological terms, this is
known as "neoteny". The only way they can complete
their metamorphosis and become salamanders is by
raising the temperature of the water and giving them
a hormone that stimulates the change.

Ambystoma mexicanum
An albino specimen

PLANETA AQUA (MEZANNINE): POISON DART FROG

Poison dart frogs have eye-catching markings warning us that
they are poisonous; they secrete toxins through their skin as a
defence against predators.
Colombian natives used to dip their arrowheads and hunting
darts in the poison of some dendrobatid frogs, such as
Phyllobates terribilis, which secretes one of the strongest
poisons in the world.

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