Hello ZooChat: On Saturday, September 17th, I visited the Aquarium of the Bay for the first time in YEARS. Given how small an institution it is, I figured this would be another good place to start with a complete species roster. PLEASE NOTE: I only have a passing interest in marine life, so forgive my ignorance and the amount of "unknown" species on this list. If anyone here is either a marine biologist and / or ichthyologist, and have visited the institution recently and know what some of these "unknown species" are, please do leave a comment down below to identify said species. With that out of the way, for those who haven't visited the aquarium, it is divided into two levels - the Entrance Level and the Lower Level. I will go in order of how the aquarium set up its walking path. I will only list the species in each BOLD section in their entirety for consistency and so this post doesn't go on forever. I will place a [!!] for species that weren't listed but seen. I'll put a [...] and with quotation marks for animals that are given a generic name, but I'll put in parentheses my cursory (and I do mean cursory, as in using Google Lens of the pictures I took to find out the species) guess, and anything in red means the species was not seen. ENTRANCE LEVEL - Discover the Bay [!!] Bat star (Patiria miniata) [✓] Black tegula snail (Tegula funebralis) [!!] Black and yellow rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas) [!!] Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis ssp.) [✓] Bubble-tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor) [✓] Blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) [✓] Blue-banded {Catalina} goby (Lythrypnus dalli) [!!] Cinnamon {Red and black} clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) [✓] Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) [✓] Club-tipped anemone (Corynactis californica) [✓] Common clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) [✓] English sole (Parophrys vetulus) [!!] Foxface rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus) [!!] Green {"Blue-green"} chromis (Chromis viridis) [✓] Frogspawn coral (Euphyllia divisa) [✓] Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) [!!] Malu anemone (Heteractis malu) [✓] Monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus) [!!] Orange-fin anemonefish (Amphiprion chrysopterus) [✓] Pacific {California} sardine (Sardinops sagax caerulea) [!!] Pyramid butterflyfish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis) [✓] Rainbow surfperch (Hypsurus caryi) [✓] Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) [✓] Royal blue tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) [✓] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata) [!!] Striped surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis) [✓] Swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) [✓] Yellow tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) [...] "Hermit crab" [Armed hermit crab? (Pagurus armatus)?] [...] "Moray eel" [California moray? (Gymnothorax mordax)] [...] "Sand dollar" [Pacific or western sand dollar? (Dendraster excentricus)] [...] "Sea hare" [California sea hare? (Aplysia californica)] [...] "Spiny lobster" [California spiny lobster? (Panulirus interruptus)] [...] Unidentified sea star (class Asteroidea) [...] Unidentified tube-dwelling anemone (subfamily Ceriantharians) [...] Unidentified Montipora coral (genus Montipora) [...] Unnamed long-spined sea urchin (Diadema setosum?) LOWER LEVEL - Bay Pipefish Gallery [✓] Bay pipefish (Syngnathus leptorhynchus) [!!] White mullet (Mugil curema) LOWER LEVEL - Sharks of Alcatraz [✓] Bat ray (Myliobatis californica) [✓] Broadnose sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus) [✓] Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) [✓] Pacific {Blue} mackerel (Scomber australasicus) [!!] Shovelnose guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus) [✓] Soupfin {School} shark (Galeorhinus galeus) [✓] Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) [✓] White-plumed anemone (*) (Metridium farcimen; listed as Metridium giganteum) [✓] White sea-bass (Atractoscion nobilis) [✓] White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) [✓] Yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi) LOWER LEVEL - Octopus and Friends [✓] Decorated warbonnet (Chirolophis decoratus) [✓] East Pacific red octopus (Octopus rubescens) [✓] Pacific spiny lumpsuckers (Eumicrotremus orbis) [✓] Penpoint gunnel (Apodichthys flavidus) [✓] Sailfin sculpin (Nautichthys oculofasciatus) [!!] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata) [✓] Spot prawn (Pandalus platyceros) LOWER LEVEL - Nearshore Tunnel [✓] Barred sand-bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) [✓] Big skate (Beringraja binoculata) [✓] Black rockfish (Sebastes melanops) [✓] Black and yellow rockfish (Sebastes chrysomelas) [✓] Blacksmith (Chromis punctipinnis) [✓] Blue rockfish (Sebastes mystinus) [✓] Bocaccio rockfish (Sebastes paucispinis) [✓] Brown rockfish (Sebastes auriculatus) [✓] Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) [✓] California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus) [✓] California sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher) [✓] Club-tipped anemone (Corynactis californica) [✓] Copper rockfish (Sebastes caurinus) [✓] Flag rockfish (Sebastes rubrivinctus) [✓] Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) [✓] Giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) [✓] Giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas) [✓] Giant [spined] sea star (Pisaster giganteus) [✓] Halfmoon (Medialuna californiensis) [✓] Horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) [✓] Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata) [✓] Northern {Californian} anchovy (Engraulis mordax) [✓] Ocean whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps) [✓] Ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) [✓] Opaleye (Girella nigricans) [✓] Pacific {California} sardine (Sardinops sagax caerulea) [✓] Pile surfperch (Rhacochilus vacca) [✓] Rainbow surfperch (Hypsurus caryi) [✓] Rock wrasse (Halichoeres semicanctus) [✓] Señorita wrasse (Oxyjulis californica) [✓] Striped surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis) [✓] Starry flounder (Platichthys stellatus) [✓] Swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) [✓] Tiger rockfish (Sebastes nigrocinctus) [✓] Vermillion rockfish {Red snapper} (Sebastes miniatus) [✓] Walleye surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum) [✓] Warty sea cucumber (Apostichopus parvimensis; listed as Parastichopus parvimensis) [✓] Wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) LOWER LEVEL - Jellies: Go with the Flow [✓] Common moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) [✓] Egg-yolk jelly (Phacellophora camtschatica) [✓] Pacific sea nettle (Chrysaora fuscescens) [✓] Purple-striped jelly (Chrysaora colorata) [..] Unidentified upside-down jellyfish (genus Cassiopea)
SPECIES LIST CONTINUED... UPPER LEVEL - Bay Lab [✓] California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi) [✓] California kingsnake (Lampropeltis californiae; was listed as Lampropeltis getula californiae) [✓] California newt (Taricha torosa) [✓] California toad (Anaxyrus boreas halophilus) [!!] Golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) [✓] Indonesian (?) Blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua gigas ssp.) [✓] Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) [✓] Red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius) [✓] [Desert] rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata) [✓] Western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) Richardson Bay Touch Pool [✓] Bat ray (Myliobatis californica) [✓] Horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) [✓] Leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) [✓] Round stingray (Urobatis halleri) [✓] Shiner perch (Cymatogaster aggregata) California Tide Pool [✓] Armed hermit crab (Pagurus armatus) [✓] Bat star (Patiria miniata) [✓] California sea cucumber (Apostichopus californicus) [✓] Giant green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) [✓] Leather star (Dermasterias imbricata) [✓] Ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus) [✓] Starburst anemone (Anthopleura sola) UPPER LEVEL - River Otters: Watershed Ambassadors [✓] North American river otter (Lontra canadensis ssp.) *** This concludes this species list. I tried to be as thorough as I can but I get the feeling I may have missed some unmarked species. Again, marine biology and ichthyology aren't in my wheel house so please comment down below if you've visited and spotted creatures that I have not mentioned or you were able to identify. Hope this species list has been helpful.
You're welcome. Doing marine creatures is quite exhausting, and this is a small aquarium. Whenever I find my way back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, prepare yourself for a long post. It's definitely an overlooked institution (also consider it's in bustling Pier 39).
Actually, I caught this mistake when reviewing my photos from my phone. It was a one-spotted (or blotched) fox face (Siganus unimaculatus). Whoops
