Catawba Science Center's new Expedition Amazon isn't large.
But the room that holds fish and turtles, frogs, snakes and birds is big enough for imaginations to run wild.
Many of the fish came from Hickory's Scott Arney, a self-described fish geek who has made trips to Uruguay and other exotic locales to bring back his favorite finned creatures. He volunteers to help out at the science center, alongside Lead Aquarist Dave Houghton.
1. Blue poison dart frogs
These tiny, sapphire-colored creatures don't grow more than two inches long. That doesn't make them any less amazing to see. The little croakers eat ants and beetles in the wild, and their skin stores the toxins from the bugs.
Arney said natives of Brazil and Suriname have been known to catch the frogs, roast their blue bodies over a fire and collect the toxins for dart tips.
2. Camouflage tank2
camouflage tank
At first, you'll think the science center left an aquarium empty. When you peer more closely, you'll see the variegated leaf fish, looking more like a floating plant than a swimming fish; a tiny bumblebee catfish blending into the driftwood with its orange-brown color; a banjo catfish, its brown body almost completely buried in the sand; or a twig catfish undulating in the water just like the live green plant that conceals it.
It's like the ultimate "find the hidden items" game.
At first, you'll think the science center left an aquarium empty. When you peer more closely, you'll see the variegated leaf fish, looking more like a floating plant than a swimming fish; a tiny bumblebee catfish blending into the driftwood with its orange-brown color; a banjo catfish, its brown body almost completely buried in the sand; or a twig catfish undulating in the water just like the live green plant that conceals it.
It's like the ultimate "find the hidden items" game.
3. Ocellate River Stingrays
People who live in the Amazon region fear the stingrays. The animals bury themselves, leaving the barbs on the end of their tails sticking up.
The venom on those barbs is extremely painful. When they get stung, natives of the Amazonian regions sometimes find the biggest tree around and run headlong into its trunk until they knock themselves out, Houghton said. That's better than being conscious through the pain.
People who live in the Amazon region fear the stingrays. The animals bury themselves, leaving the barbs on the end of their tails sticking up.
The venom on those barbs is extremely painful. When they get stung, natives of the Amazonian regions sometimes find the biggest tree around and run headlong into its trunk until they knock themselves out, Houghton said. That's better than being conscious through the pain.
4. The electric eel
Speakers let visitors hear the crackle and pop of electricity the eel releases.Eels use that electric charge to navigate and hunt. The eel can pick up the electrical signal other fish create when their muscles move. That literally tells him where his next meal is coming from.
A full-grown electric eel can put off 600 volts of electricity, about five times the amount of a regular light socket. Often, that causes cataracts in the eels, leaving them dependent on their electrical charges to survive.
5. Red-tailed catfish
These fish are cute when they're a couple of inches long. That means they sell well at fish shops. It's a common myth that fish won't get bigger than the aquarium owners keep them in. The red-tailed cat in the large Amazon Oxbow tank at the science center is about 8 inches long. In six months, it will double or triple in size until it's six feet long and more than 180 pounds. Nothing can stop that growth, Houghton said.
6. Silver arowana
Also sold as a fish for aquariums, the arowana can grow up to 6 feet long.
The males hold eggs in their mouths while the babies incubate. Hunters in South America will catch those egg-toting fathers, kills the grown fish and sell the babies to exporters.
You can identify the arowana as the fish which skims the top of the water looking for prey.
"They jump up to catch insects, birds, frogs, lizards, my finger when I open the tank," Arney says.
7. Goodied (pronounced goo-DEE-uhd) fish
Arney admits these small swimmers look unremarkable on first glance.
"They're like ditch fish," he said.
But the spotted versions are some of the most endangered creatures in the exhibit. There's only one Amazonian stream left where collectors find these fish in the wild. That creek is around three feet at its widest point and three or four miles long in the rainy season, Arney says.
8. The boas
A Brazilian rainbow boa is named for its shiny, colorful skin. The tree boa, kept safely behind glass, is probably six feet, but weighs only about two pounds, Houghton said.
9. Skeleton tarantula
A native of Brazil, the skeleton spider gets its name from the white stripes on its black legs. The tarantula is covered with tiny hairs and can flick the hairs onto predators, which causes irritation and lets the spider escape danger.
10. Barred parakeets
These bright green birds don't talk — yet. They can be trained to speak. While they waited in Houghton's office for the exhibit to go on display, he easily taught them to whistle. He isn't sure what they'll learn to say in the three years Expedition Amazon is scheduled to be at the science center. He hopes it's "Put down the turtle."
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement