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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

PLANET AQUA (TROPICAL RIVER): 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.