Exhibits

A Live Diver Feeding Show

 “Dive and Dine” features the aquarium’s diver in the 25,000 gallon “Fish of the Mid-Atlantic” tank. Audiences can watch and interact with the diver as she hand-feeds cownose rays, swims with nurse sharks, and dives with dogfish in the tank. Participants also have the opportunity to interact with the diver asking questions during the show. This underwater picnic is included with paid admission to the aquarium. The feeding show lasts approximately 20 minutes with a question and answer session afterward.

Clownfish & Anemones

This tank is home to 6 different species of clownfish including Ocellaris (Nemo), Clarkii, Maroon, and Tomato clowns. Sharing the tank with them are symbiotic long tentacle and bubble tip anemones. 

Fish of the Amazon River

The Amazon River has the greatest freshwater output of any river in the world, and is home to an incredible diversity of life. Our exhibit is much smaller, but it does provide a glimpse at some of the fish species native to the Amazon. Most notably the Red Bellied Piranha, one of the approximately 30 species of piranhas only found in the Amazon River basin.

Fish of the Indo-Pacific

The reefs and tropical seas of the Indo-Pacific Ocean are one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, and this display gives the viewer a small sampling from the thousands of species of fish found throughout this region. Our exhibit includes common aquarium fare like yellow and convict tangs, and some larger species such as soldier and angel fish.

Fish of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean

This 25,000 gallon exhibit features a variety of sea creatures native to the waters off of NJ, and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic region. Ranging in size from the big to the small; these include cownose rays, smooth dogfish, and black sea bass; just to name a few. And don’t forget Groman, our Loggerhead Sea Turtle.

Live Coral

This 1,000 gallon exhibit contains a mixture of stony and soft corals native to both the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. While corals may appear to be little more than stone or plants, these are in fact live animals related to jellyfish and sea anemones. Plants do play a very important role in the lives of corals though, most notably the endosymbiotic algaes that live in their tissues. These singles celled plants convert sunlight into energy that the corals use to grow, hence insuring a healthy coral polyp and colony overall.

LoggerheadSea Turtle

Loggerheads were named for their relatively large heads, which support powerful jaws and enable them to feed on hard-shelled prey, such as whelks and conch. The carapace (top shell) is slightly heart-shaped and reddish-brown in adults and sub-adults, while the plastron (bottom shell) is generally a pale yellowish color. The neck and flippers are usually dull brown to reddish brown on top and medium to pale yellow on the sides and bottom. Mean straight carapace length of adults in the southeastern U.S. is approximately 36 in (92 cm); corresponding weight is about 250 lbs (113 kg).

Loggerheads reach sexual maturity at around 35 years of age. In the southeastern U.S., mating occurs in late March to early June and females lay eggs between late April and early September. Females lay three to five nests, and sometimes more, during a single nesting season. The eggs incubate approximately two months before hatching sometime between late June and mid-November.

Hatchlings vary from light to dark brown to dark gray dorsally and lack the reddish-brown coloration of adults and juveniles. Flippers are dark gray to brown above with white to white-gray margins. The coloration of the plastron is generally yellowish to tan. At emergence, hatchlings average 1.8 in (45 mm) in length and weigh approximately 0.04 lbs (20 g).

Habitat
Loggerheads occupy three different ecosystems during their lives--the terrestrial zone, the oceanic zone, and the "neritic" zone. Loggerheads nest on ocean beaches, generally preferring high energy, relatively narrow, steeply sloped, coarse-grained beaches. Immediately after hatchlings emerge from the nest, they begin a period of frenzied activity. During this active period, hatchlings move from their nest to the surf, swim and are swept through the surf zone, and continue swimming away from land for about one to several days.

After this swim frenzy period, post-hatchling loggerheads take up residence in areas where surface waters converge to form local downwellings. These areas are often characterized by accumulations of floating material, such as seaweed (e.g., Sargassum), and, in the southeast U.S., are common between the Gulf Stream and the southeast U.S. coast, and between the Loop Current and the Gulf Coast of Florida. Post-hatchlings within this habitat are observed to be low-energy float-and-wait foragers that feed on a wide variety of floating items (Witherington 2002). As post-hatchlings, loggerheads may linger for months in waters just off the nesting beach or become transported by ocean currents within the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic. Work by Lohmann and Lohmann (1994b, 1996) and Lohmann et al. (1999) suggests that loggerheads may continue some oriented swimming in order to keep from being swept into cold North Atlantic currents.

Once individuals get transported by ocean currents farther offshore, they've entered the oceanic zone. Within the North Atlantic, juvenile loggerheads have been primarily studied in the waters around the Azores and Madeira (Bolten 2003). Other populations exist (e.g., in the region of the Grand Banks off Newfoundland), but data on these populations are limited. The juvenile turtles around the Azores and Madeira spend the majority of their time in the top 15 feet (5 m) of the water column.

Somewhere between the ages of 7 to 12 years, oceanic juveniles migrate to nearshore coastal areas (neritic zone) and continue maturing until adulthood. In addition to providing critically important habitat for juveniles, the neritic zone also provides crucial foraging habitat, inter-nesting habitat, and migratory habitat for adult loggerheads in the western North Atlantic. To a large extent, these habitats overlap with the juvenile stage, the exception being most of the bays, sounds, and estuaries along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S. from Massachusetts to Texas, which are infrequently used by adults. However, adult loggerheads are present year-round in Florida Bay, an important feeding area, probably because of relatively easy access to open ocean and migratory routes. The predominate foraging areas for western North Atlantic adult loggerheads are found throughout the relatively shallow continental shelf waters of the U.S., Bahamas, Cuba, and the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. Migration routes from foraging habitats to nesting beaches (and vice versa) for a portion of the population are restricted to the continental shelf, while other routes involve crossing oceanic waters to and from the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Yucatán Peninsula. Seasonal migrations of adult loggerheads along the mid- and southeast U.S. coasts have also been documented.

Distribution
Loggerheads are circumglobal, occurring throughout the temperate and tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Loggerheads are the most abundant species of sea turtle found in U.S. coastal waters.

In the Atlantic, the loggerhead turtle's range extends from Newfoundland to as far south as Argentina. During the summer, nesting occurs primarily in the subtropics. Although the major nesting concentrations in the U.S. are found from North Carolina through southwest Florida, minimal nesting occurs outside of this range westward to Texas and northward to southern Virginia. Adult loggerheads are known to make extensive migrations between foraging areas and nesting beaches. During non-nesting years, adult females from U.S. beaches are distributed in waters off the eastern U.S. and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Yucatán.

The majority of loggerhead nesting occurs in the western rims of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The loggerhead nesting aggregations in Oman, the U.S., and Australia account for about 88% of nesting worldwide. In the southeastern U.S., about 80% of loggerhead nesting occurs in six Florida counties (Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward Counties). In Brevard and Indian River Counties, a 20 mile (32.2 km) section of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach comprises the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR). ACNWR is the most important nesting area for loggerhead turtles in the western hemisphere. Twenty-five percent of all loggerhead nesting in the U.S. occurs in the Refuge. Researchers have recorded nesting densities of 1,000 nests per mile (625 nests per km) within the ACNWR.

In the eastern Pacific, loggerheads have been reported as far north as Alaska, and as far south as Chile. In the U.S., occasional sightings are reported from the coasts of Washington and Oregon, but most records are of juveniles off the coast of California. The west coast of Mexico, including the Baja Peninsula, provides critically important developmental habitats for juvenile loggerheads. The only known nesting areas for loggerheads in the North Pacific are found in southern Japan.

Moon Jellies

Jellyfish are commonly known to be a potentially hazardous animal, with their capability to inflict painful stings. What isn’t as widely known is just how diverse this group is. Jellies can be large, like the Lion’s Mane Jelly, or so small as to nearly be invisible, like some of the very small and potentially deadly box jellies of the South Pacific. The Moon Jellies in this display get up to the size of a dinner plate, and ,with their small stinging cells, relatively harmless to people unless in large numbers.

Moray Eels

In this tank you can view our moray eels. While many people are familiar with the green moray, like the one in this display, moray eels come is a range of sizes, colors, and patterns. Sharing this exhibit with the green moray is one of its Pacific relatives, a fimbriated moray, as well as various species of fish from the Caribbean.

Mullica River Tank

This freshwater tank is typical of local cedar-water tributaries of the Pine Barrens (Stained brown from the tannins released by rotting vegetation), and houses Painted and Red bellied Turtles, a Fowler’s Toad, Banded Sunfish, and even lobster-like Crayfish.

Nudibranchs

Nudibranchs are a species of shell-less mollusk and are in the sea slug family. They are found throughout the world’s oceans, but are most abundant in shallow, tropical waters. Their scientific name, Nudibranchia, means naked gills, and describes the feathery horns that most wear on their backs. Nudibranchs, usually oblong in shape, can be thick or flat, long or short, vibrantly colored or dull to match their surroundings. They can be as small as ¼ inch or grow to a length of 12 inches.

They are carnivores that graze on algae, sponges, anemones, corals, barnacles, and even other nudibranchs. To identify prey, they have two highly sensitive tentacles, called rhinophores, located on top of their heads. Nudibranchs get their coloring from the food they eat, which helps in camouflage. Some species can retain the dangerous poisons found in anemones and some sponges, and use it as its defense by secreting it in the mouth of its predator.

Ocean Oddities

In this series of aquaria we showcase some of the interesting, and unusual, animals from oceans around the world. While the animals in these tanks are occasionally rotated to display a wider variety of oceanic fauna, some of the animals you can view here include the deadly stonefish and common octopus.

Seahorse Habitat

While many people are only familiar with the classic appearance of seahorses, these very unique fish come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. They are masters of camouflage, easily blending into their surroundings. This exhibit shows one of the many familiar looking species of seahorse, and just how easily that can become lost in the background of their environment.

Shark & Ray Touch Tank

In this 900 gallon interactive exhibit you have the opportunity to touch some of our sharks and juvenile rays. These include White Spotted bamboo sharks, Cownose Rays, and Southern Stingrays. Special feeding times 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM, daily. Limited quantities of food are sold at the gift shop for scheduled feedings.

Southern Stingray

The southern stingray, Dasyatis americana, can be found in the western Atlantic from as far north as the coast of New Jersey, around the northern Gulf of Mexico and south to southern Brazil. These stingrays prefer sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, lagoons and reefs, often near cleaning stations where they are cleaned of parasites by the bluehead wrasse and Spanish hogfish.

The southern stingray primarily feeds at night on on bivalves and worms as well as crustaceans and small fishes. They feed by flapping their wings to create depressions in the sand exposing invertebrates and small fishes.

Terrapin Tank

Typical of the local estuarine environment, the water in this tank is brackish, meaning that it is a mix of fresh and salt water. Fish such as Perch and Killifish are able to live in both, as does the Diamondback Terrapin, an endangered species of turtle thankfully still common to New Jersey.

The Coastal Zone

Touch Tank

In this interactive exhibit we encourage our visitors to touch a variety of local and tropical intertidal creatures. Here you can expect to find horseshoe crabs, Bahama stars, sea urchins, and hermit crabs. There are also several species of small and juvenile fish that roam this shallow tank.

Tropical Rainforest

Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests. They are havens for millions of plants and animals. Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.

Where are Rainforests? Tropical rainforests are located in a band, mostly in the area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S latitude). This 3,000 mile (4800 km) wide band is called the "tropics." Tropical rainforests are found in South America, West Africa, Australia, southern India, and Southeast Asia.