Do you SEA the resemblance?

March 1, 2016

Species Highlights

Do you SEA the resemblance?

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is home to quite a variety of interesting aquatic life from all different parts of the world. With a touch of so many different places here, you’re bound to run into some pretty interesting looking little guys. Let’s call this one, celebrity doppelgangers for fish.

1. Dog Face Puffer – Dog

Imagine if a dog was stuck inside a fish body because that’s basically what makes up our friend, the Dog Face Puffer. He’s a native of the Pacific and calls our Indo-Pacific gallery his humble abode. The Dog Face Puffer gets its name from its appearance, and I bet you can guess why – he looks fairly similar to a canine! Oddly enough, Puffer fish have been known to have personalities similar to dogs. However, the Dog Face Puffer doesn’t have teeth like his furry friends, but instead has a fused beak-like structure, which it uses to crush its food.

2. Raccoon Butterflyfish – Racoon

Sounds like a weird combination, right? However, the combination of the traits from these two very different animals actually creates a beautiful aquatic creature. This fish gets its name from its highly recognizable mask over its eyes, nearly identical to that of a raccoon. Its beautiful yellow coloring and shape resemble a butterfly. This remarkable combination makes for an awesome addition to the Tropical Reef of the GCA.

3. Pterois aka Lionfish – Lion

This fish is given its name due to its venomous fins that create a look similar to the mane of a lion. The Pterois is found mostly in the Indo-Pacific, and can be found there within the Greater Cleveland Aquarium. If attacked or threatened, the fish will deliver a potent venom through it’s needle-like dorsal fins. The sting from this act is extremely painful to humans, sometimes resulting in nausea or breathing difficulties, but is rarely fatal.

4. Red Terror Cichlid – Tigers

He’s got the eye of the tiger, and you’re gonna hear him roar! Well, maybe more like blow bubbles, but you get the point. The Red Terror Cichlid typically sports a beautiful orange color with black stripes – similar to a wild tiger. These fish tend to be territorial a similar characteristic of tigers. It can generally be found along the banks of rivers hiding under brush. You can visit our Red Terror Cichlid in our Lakes and Rivers of the World gallery.

Be sure to look out for these amazing aquatic creatures on your next visit to the aquarium! You never know what resemblances you might see!

Microbeads: What They Are and Why We Care

February 29, 2016

Written by Greater Cleveland Aquarium

Every piece of plastic ever made still exists.

Plastic products are everywhere. Pens, shoes, food packaging, toys, straws, water bottles, and shopping bags are all made of plastic; plastic is all around us. But, did you know there may be plastic in your toothpaste?

Many common household products, including toothpaste, soap, body wash, and makeup contain tiny pieces of plastic called microbeads. Marketed as an exfoliate, these microbeads have replaced natural, biodegradable exfoliates like nutshells and salt crystals in hundreds of personal products on the market.

Pictured above: Plastic microbeads from household products. Microbeads can be less than 1mm across. Credit: Alliance for the Great Lakes Website (http://www.greatlakes.org/microbeads).

The problem? These microbeads are so small, that our wastewater treatment systems are unable to filter and remove them. And, because these microbeads are made of plastic, they never biodegrade. Over time, these beads continue to accumulate in our world’s waterways; the ocean and the great lakes are currently full of them.

The problem continues as toxins like PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)can bind to these tiny beads, creating a “toxic soup.” Marine organisms cannot distinguish between microbeads and plankton so these microbeads can be ingested. Check out this video of zooplankton ingesting plastic!

Further studies hope to identify whether these microbeads can be traced up through the food chain, or if the plastic is excreted along the way. Remember, humans are at the top of most ocean food chains.

It is virtually impossible to remove these microbeads from the waterways without also removing beneficial marine life. Our only solution is to stop adding microbeads to the system in the first place. Every person has the choice whether or not to buy products containing microbeads. Check the labels of your products, or check out this database to discover if the products you use contain plastic. Search for polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, and nylon. Each of these ingredients is a fancy name for plastic.

Check the labels of your products to see if they contain microbeads. Image credit: news.vice.com

The good news is that several states, (IL, ME, NJ, CO, IN, MD, WI, and CA), have already passed legislation to ban the sale of products containing microbeads. Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, L’Oreal, Johnson & Johnson, Target, and Crest have all have pledged to phase out microbeads from their manufactured products. In December 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was approved by the US House and the US Senate. Microbeads will be phased out of products country-wide starting in 2018, but it’s never too early to start at home today.

Here at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, we hope to help “ban the bead” by spreading the word through education. During our October Homeschool Wednesday, students observed microbeads by straining soap and toothpaste through coffee filters. You can try the lab at home!

If we all do our part, we can stop microbeads from entering our global waterways. The choice is ours.

For more information check out these awesome resources:
http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/
www.plasticaware.org