Page 23 - Gateways_Summer_2022_Neat

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Another group of tanks holds a mix of organisms native to reefs
throughout the Pacific Ocean. Stalks of pinkish sinularia coral
and derasa and squamosa clams dominate the right-most
tank. Many of the fish are newcomers and include the forktail
blenny, Mandarin dragonet, striped cleaner wrasse, firefish,
flameback angelfish, and the Seale’s cardinalfish. The male
cardinalfish is a mouthbrooder—it carries a clutch of eggs in its
mouth until they hatch and then spits them out.
Above: Seale's cardinalfish Look for the sea hare, which often burrows into the sand
and sinularia coral
Right: Epaulette shark or can be found grazing on algae. This marine snail’s name
comes from its ear-like structures that resemble a hare’s ears.
The stars of the left-most tank are the epaulette sharks—
they can use their fins to “walk” across the sand. Several new
residents include a foxface rabbitfish, which has a bright yellow
body and mask-like face, the dogface puffer, and the unusual
tassle filefish, which looks like a prickly floating leaf.

Underwater Castles
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This colorful reef exhibit holds 22 species of reef-building corals and
16 species of reef fish. Corals come in many shapes, colors, and sizes,
and may resemble plants or rocks. But coral polyps are living animals
that join together and form colonies; their exoskeletons fuse together
like building blocks to form a reef. They grow very slowly, only 1 to
4 inches a year. This is why it’s important to protect coral reefs.
Coral reefs provide marine animals with shelter, hiding places
from predators, and places to lay eggs and raise their young. In turn,
the animals eat excess algae and parasites off the coral and chase away
coral predators, such as sea urchins. Most corals have zooxanthellae,
or single-celled algae, living inside their tissues. The algae produce
oxygen and nutrients that feed the host animals.
You’ll find Dory, the blue tang from the movie “Finding Dory,”
here. The blue tang begins life with an all-yellow body, which turns
blue as it ages, with the exception of its tail and pectoral fins.
Many reef fish species are sequential hermaphrodites; that is,
they begin life as one sex—male or female—and change their sex
later in life. The anthias in this exhibit are born female and the most
dominant one changes its sex (and appearance) and becomes a male
fish. Clownfish do just the opposite; they are all born male and the
most dominant animal becomes a female.
To learn more, view our “Bringing the Zoo to You” video,
“Coral Reef & Fish,” on Brookfield Zoo's YouTube channel.
Top: Blue tang
Bottom: Reef fish and corals
BROOKFIELD ZOO | SUMMER 2022 23