NEWS & ANOUNCEMENTS
SEP
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OKTOBERFEST 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Jim Craine & the Atlantic City All Star Band performing in the Amphitheater, Food & Drink specials at the Flying Cloud Cafe & Back Bay Ale House, Kids Ride Free, Aboard Atlantic City Cruises 1:00 pm Dolphin Cruise with paid adult admission, Crafters Village fall savings, wooden pumpkin painting, make a frisbee, pumpkin patch photos, magic, face painting and so much more. A fun day for the entire family.
SEP
15
SUPER WEEKENDS
Every Saturday and Sunday...
11:00 am - Live Dive Show
12:00 and 3:00 pm – Feeding of shark and rays at touch tank
2:00 pm – Live exotic animal show
AUG
12
BAT RAYS AND SHOVEL NOSE SHARKS
Check Out the Newest Arrivals to the Shark and Stingray Touch tank
At the
The tank is open all day from 10 until 5pm and feedings are at noon and three pm daily.
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The Shovelnose Guitarfish is a guitar-shaped ray with a broad disc that is greater in length than width; a relatively smooth dorsal surface except for a single row of thorns around the eyes and extending along the back and tail; a long, pointed snout with a rounded tip; small, rounded, pebble-like teeth; a first dorsal fin that originates closer to the pelvic fin base than to the caudal fin origin; a thick tail; and a moderately large caudal fin without a distinct lower lobe. The color ranges from an olive to sandy brown above, but without prominent dark bars across the back, and white below.
HABITAT AND RANGE: Shovelnose Guitarfishes are a shallow-water species commonly found at a depth of 1 to 13 m, although they may be found at depths down to 91 m. They usually lie partially buried on sandy or mud bottoms but occasionally are observed in sea grass beds. These rays will at times congregate in large numbers in shallow bays and estuaries. The Shovelnose Guitarfish is endemic to the eastern Pacific, ranging from
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Bat rays swim gracefully by flapping their batlike wings (pectoral fins) bird style—a feature that gives these rays their common name and their family name, “eagle rays.” They are found in muddy and sandy bottom bays, kelp forests and close to coral reefs.
Those batlike wings also serve in the hunt for food. Bat rays flap their pectoral fins in the sand to expose buried prey, like clams. Rays also use their lobelike snouts to dig prey from sandy bottoms. The resulting pit can be up to 13 feet (4 m) long and eight inches (20 cm) deep—an important source of “leftover” small prey for fishes that can’t dig. Bat rays have one to three venomous barbed spines at the base of their long tails, but these docile animals sting only to defend themselves.
Bat ray teeth are fused into plates that can crush the strongest clam shells. The rays crush the entire clam, or other mollusks, inside their mouths, spit out the shells, and then eat the soft, fleshy parts. If a tooth breaks or wears out, a new one replaces it. Rays grow new teeth continuously, like their shark kin.
JUL
01
NEW TROPICAL RAINFOREST EXHIBIT
The Rainforest display includes multiple sections depicting different enviornments and animals. An abandoned shack within a section of rainforest features animals found in rainforests around the world. There is a pond that holds a Matamata Turtle and various cichlids, a group of fishes commonly found in rainforest regions. The two touch tanks contain freshwater rays native to the Amazon, while the other has Amazonian Prawn. The last two sections of the display feature a variety of small rainforest creatures, including poison dart frogs.