The world’s most deadliest fish are on display at Blue Reef Aquarium, Newquay. The Towan Beach attraction has moved their stonefish to a new display making them a star attraction.
The stonefish babies first arrived at the Blue Reef Aquarium on 7th January 2016 and were closely monitored by the aquarium aquarists until they were able to feed properly and have now been moved to a prime location to be enjoyed by public.
Lara Heaney displays supervisor explains “The two stonefish were really small, only about 10 cm long each when they first arrived here. We had to persevere with the feeding programme introducing them to foods such as squid, sand eel, krill, mackerel and sprat to find what they preferred. Their daily diet now consists mainly of mackerel and sprat as they go straight for it. Now they have both grown to at least 20cm long, they are much bigger and have become real confident characters, often sat right up at the front of the display. We’ve moved them to a larger exhibit to give them more room, but even in the wild this species are not overly active creatures preferring to lie around on the ocean bed waiting for their prey to arrive.”
Since arriving at the aquarium the stonefish have always been a favorite of the visitors. They are masters of camouflage and blend into their surroundings to look like, what their name suggests, a stone or a rock. The public enjoy trying to spot them and are often amazed by their clever disguise.
Stonefish have rightly earned themselves the label of ‘world’s deadliest fish’. They have thirteen dorsal spines that release a toxic poison when threatened or even stepped on. It can take less than an hour for the poison to kill a human if untreated by anti-venom.
At the Blue Reef Aquarium this summer visitors can learn all about the ‘Dangerous Creatures’ that can be found in the aquarium, from the snappy dwarf caiman and ferocious piranha to the spikey sea urchins. There’s a fact finding trail and a hidden shark trail for visitors to take part in as well as frequent daily talks featuring all these dangerous creatures.
Issued by Blue Reef Aquarium. For more information please contact Melissa Hallam or Lara Heaney on 01637 878134.
