Georgia Aquarium's Cephalopods

Phil1078

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Hello,

I am thinking of taking a trip to Georgia's Aquarium. I was wondering if anyone know whether they exhibit squid of any kind (preferentially Sepioteuthis). I believe Bruce Carlson works there, so I am hoping there is a squid exhibit. Also, I hope I chose the write place to post this question. Apologies if it would better fit somewhere else.

~ Philip
 
Philip,
I have not been in about two years and missed the opening of the new GPO exhibit by a couple of days so I have not seen it. There are supposed to be two in the exhibit. When I went, we had only one but she did come over to me when I "stroked" the glass with my finger. We have a nice cuttle display (when hit has cuttles and when the new batch is people acclimated - sometimes is it covered) but no squid. Here is a post and a link to at talk by the cuttlefish keeper
 
Oh, I guess they had squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana) early on. Dr. Carlson did an article in the Nov/Dec. 2009 Reef Life magazine on squid. In there, he mentioned keeping squid at Georgia's Aquarium.
 
Hmmm, can you reference a link to an on-line article? I have been most years (except last year and this) and am sure there were no squid before 2009 unless they were in the large aquarium (where I would think they would have become food very quickly and easily missed - it is the one with the whale sharks, various sharks, rays and the newest addition, the second of two manta rays. It is not wholely visible from any observation point other than from the top on the behind the scenes tour). Are you sure he was not referring to his work in Hawaii?

I did find this article (2006) that says they had squid:
In the coral reef are garden eels, reef squid, seahorses and yellow-head jawfish.

but I never saw them. They may have been in the cuttlefish display before the cuttlefish during one of the times we went when that tank was closed to viewing.
 
Carlson, B.A. & M. Awai. 2009. Pro-Aquarist: Squid - Live Fast, Die Young. ReefLife. 1 (4): 10-13.

Here is a link to the website of that particular issue. ReefLifeMagazine.com is for sale | HugeDomains

The authors go into some detail about their experiences with S. lessoniana at Georgia Aquarium, including putting them on exhibit successfully and raising some to adulthood.

I really hope that some are there. I have seen cuttlefish and GPOs before, but never squid (alive that is). It would make my day!

~ Philip
 
I actually have that issue since Richard Ross (Thales) and James Wood (Ceph) both have articles but I don't remember reading the squid article but will do so this evening.

OK, I read the article and it fills in some of the missing pieces. You will note that he mentions raising them but not displaying them (there is a behind the scenes tour that may have included viewing them as he mentions common rectangular tanks but I suspect they are not there now if you read between the lines of his follow on statements about needing dedicated specialists). You will also note that they tried keeping them in with the cuttlefish and found that this was not a good idea (the cuttles stalked and ate them). I suspect that one of the afore mentioned visits where the cuttle tank was covered was about the time they found this was not a good idea.
 
I just went to GA Aquarium (which was excellent - gotta love Manta sp.). On the cephalopod front, only a GPO. He (or she I wasn't able to tell) was rather active which was nice.

So anyone know where I can see a live squid in captivity?
 
Only ONE GPO and NO cuttles? The new exhibit (that I missed was supposed to house two).

The cuttle tank should have been on the right as you enter the "reef" viewing area. It is a huge picture window affair. Did you happen to see a large display covered in black cloth in the hallway? More than once this display has been closed.

They have been doing a lot of construction to set up a bottle nosed dolphin exhibit and many of the displays were disrupted (I serendipitiously ran into an employee several months ago that confirmed things were still not back to normal).

Have a look at the Chatanooga Aquarium website to see what they have in the way of cephs. Sedna was there a couple of years ago and mentioned that it had a lot to offer that we still don't have (but she did not get to swim in THAT aquarium :wink:)

I saw the first manta (Nandy, I think is the name) but not the second. One of the biggest highlights of my life was to "ride" on one that chose to play with us in Puerto Vallarta.
 

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