| Special Exhibition |
| Merry Christmas from the Tank! Santa Claus is Coming to Tank |
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One of popular events during the Christmas season starts! “Santa Diver” appears in the tanks of “Pacific Ocean” and “Tasman Sea,” swims with the whale sharks “Kai-kun” and ”Dai-kun,” and Pacific whitesided dolphins in the tanks respectively, greets visitors shaking his hands, make Janken (“Rock Scissors and Paper” game) with visitors and be taken photos with visitors through the acrylic glass.
Period: November 13, 2009 (Fri.) to December 25, 2009 (Fri.)
Performance in Pacific Ocean: Forty minutes from 10:50 a.m., 1:15 p.m. and 3:50 p.m.
Performance in Tasman Sea: Twenty minutes from 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
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Debut! The world’ first exhibition of spinetail mobula! |
→Moving Image!
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In the Pacific Ocean tank, the exhibition of a large sized ray, spinetail mobula (DW 2.2m, female) started. It is the world’s first exhibition in aquariums.
Spinetail mobulas are large sized rays which become over DW 250 cm when they grow.
They inhabit the sea around Japan though, they are rarely found in nature. The exhibition of spinetail mobula is not found in any other aquariums in the world except for Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. (*1) A few rearing cases which did not become successful in feeding have been found until now. (*2) The success of feeding and exhibition in Kaiyukan is the first case in the world. (*3)
*1 American Elasmobranch Society
*2 “List of breeding” Additional Volume of Annual Report of Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums（1997 - 2005）より。
*3 Kaiyukan’s “the first case in the world” means the first success in feeding and exhibition of a continuously rearing specimen.
Spinetail mobula
English name: Spinetail mobula Academic name: Mobula japanica
Myliobatidae. Spinetail mobulas are large sized rays which inhabit the sea from the southern part of Japan, East China Sea, South China Sea to Hawaii. Their head fins are distinguishing. They are similar to manta rays. However, their mouth is located on the ventral surface of the head while that of manta rays is located at the anterior edge of the head. Further, spinetail mobulas have a spine behind the dorsal fin. Then, two species can be distinguished. Spinetail mobulas are rarely found in Japan. When they grow, their disc width reaches over two and a half meters. In past years, the disc width, 310 cm was recorded. |
Power and Excitement are scaled up!
Two Whale Sharks Are Exhibited Now!! Come and Enjoy Them! |
▲Two whale sharks are swimming
▲New whale shark
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Kaiyukan carried a male whale shark (total length: 4 m 50 cm, estimated weight: 1t, estimated age:6 to 7) in the Pacific Ocean tank at 5:38p.m. on June 15 (Sun.), after one-day-journey from Kochi Prefecture to Osaka, and started to exhibit two whale sharks for the first time in seven years.
Please enjoy to see not only a gigantic scene with another whale shark, KAI-kun (total length: 4 m 23 cm, estimated weight: 1t, estimated age: 6 to 7), swimming the Pacific Ocean tank in comfort, but also another magnificence scene of Mobula japonica which is the first one in captivity in the world and a manta ray which is the largest species in rays.
The new whale shark was caught in the fixed fishing net off the coast of Amachi, Otsuki-cho, Hata-gun, Kochi Prefecture, on September 13, 2007 and carried in Osaka Aquarium Biological Research Institute of Iburi Center (OBIC). Since then, it has been kept in the center. It turned to be a male whale shark.
Kaiyukan hopes the new whale shark will grow in good condition with KAI-kun and be loved by many people who come to Kaiyukan. |
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