Scientific name : Aetobatus narinari
Family : Myliobatidae
Size : Up to 3 m span
Distribution : Tropical and subtropical areas
Remarkable behaviour : It swims slowly but can accelerate suddenly to escape its predators.
Biology : It uses its flattened head, with shark-like sensory organs, to search the sand for food. It has powerful crushing teeth.
Scientific name : Sphyrna lewini
Family : Sphyrnidae
Size : Up to 360 cm
Distribution : Circumtropical, Indo-Pacific, Atlantic
Biology : It lives alone or in schools in search of fish, cephalopods or crustaceans on which it feeds. It is the most common hammerhead shark. It is a viviparous species (the embryo grows inside the female’s belly). It gives birth to 15 to 30 young.
IUCN status : Critically endangered
Scientific name : Pterois volitans
Family : Scorpaenidae
Size : Up to 38 cm
Depth : Up to 55 m
Distribution : Tropical Pacific, West Atlantic, Mediterranean
Morphology : The body is striped with vertical white stripes and red to dark brown stripes. The dorsal and pectoral fins consist of long, free, venomous spines.
Biology : During the day they are found in dark places. At night they come out to hunt. It is very common to observe these lionfish in shipwrecks.
IUCN red list : Least concern
Scientific name : Rhinecanthus assasi
Family : Balistidae
Size : Up to 30 cm
Depth : Up to 15 m
Distribution : Indo-Pacific
Morphology : The livery is greyish, ranging from yellow to brown. It is lighter on the belly. The lips are bordered with yellow, a horizontal line extends its lips which gives the impression of a large mouth and helps to deter possible enemies from attacking it.
Biology : They have the peculiarity of sleeping on their side and emit small buzzes when they feel in danger.
Scientific name : Carcharhinus plumbeus
Family : Carcharhinidae
Size : Up to 250 cm
Distribution : Found in tropical and temperate water
Biology : It lives alone or in schools. It frequents coral, sandy and estuarine bottoms. It is a viviparous species (the embryo grows inside the female’s belly). It can give birth to several young (14 max.). It feeds on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans.
IUCN status : Vulnerable
Scientific name : Octopus vulgaris
Family : Octopodidae (octopuses, over 150 species)
Size : Up to 130 cm wingspan
Distribution : Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic, from the British Isles to South Africa
Biology : The octopus has eight tentacles with smooth suction cups, enabling it to move along the seabed and grasp objects with precision. It is easy to spot the octopus’s lair because it leaves mounds of shells and crab shells, the remains of its last meals.
The octopus is highly intelligent, capable of using tools and imitating its fellow creatures, which is remarkable for a mollusc.
IUCN status : Least concern
Scientific name : Ginglymostoma cirratum
Family : Ginglymostomtidae
Size : Up to 450 cm
Distribution : Tropical Atlantic
Biology : It lives alone on rocky bottoms and feeds mainly at night on fish, cephalopods and crustaceans. It is an ovoviviparous species (babies are born already formed. They have fed and developed in eggs that have hatched inside the female). Birth of 20 to 30 young that measure about 30 centimetres.
Scientific name : Himantura uarnak
Family : Dasyatidae
Size : Up to 200 cm
Distribution : Indo-Pacific, Red sea, Eastern Mediterranean sea
Biology : It lives alone or in schools above the bottom in search of crustaceans, bivalves or fish. It is an ovoviviparous species (babies are born already formed. They have fed and developed in eggs that have hatched inside the female).
IUCN status : Vulnerable
Scientific name : Halichoerus grypus
Family : Phocidae
Geographical distribution :
Large colonies of seals are situated in England, Scotland and Ireland. There are two small colonies of grey seals in Brittany, France at Molène-Ouessant and the Sept-Îles. The stranded seals that were recovered by our treatment centre came from these colonies.
The Aquarium has been providing a home to grey seals since its creation in 1933.
– Okéra, Titounette, Sylvestrine and Charlie (the only male in the pool) were rescued as pups aged between 1 or 2 months after being stranded on beaches along the basque and landes coastlines.
– Naïa (16 December 2005) and Noëlla (Christmas Day in 2009) were born at the Aquarium, following the mating of Charlie with Okéra.
Seals usually feed on fish. Each seal eats about 4 kg of mackerel at each meal.
They molt, shedding their fur twice a year.
Under the water, you can see them swimming or sleeping in nooks and crannies, sometimes in the most surprising positions.
There are two main characteristics that differentiate seals from sea lions :
– Seals do not have any external ears, they only have an auditory canal opening.
– They cannot bend their hind flippers so they crawl when on land, whereas sea lions can rotate their hind flippers to the ground and hop.
Our seals are not trained, but we do encourage them to do different exercises for medical reasons and to facilitate medical care and contact between the keepers and animals.
After a gestation period lasting 11 months, the mother seal gives birth during the winter and then feeds their single pup for 21 days before abruptly abandoning her offspring. Many young pups die as they are still too young to fend for themselves. Others are carried along by the sea currents that then wash them up onto the Atlantic coastline.
Grey seals weigh 15 kg at birth and 50 kg when they are weaned (3 weeks later), and when they are found stranded on the beaches, they only weigh 10 to 15 kg. Every year, the Biarritz Aquarium recovers 2 or 3 seals that are treated and nurtured to fatten them up, they are tagged before being released back into the wild near Brest. This operation is part of the natural heritage programme called l’Observatoire du Patrimoine Naturel.
Scientific name : Rhinobatos sp.
Family : Rhinobatidae
Size : Up to 150 cm
Distribution : Western Atlantic
Biology : It lives on soft bottoms where it finds its food (molluscs, crustaceans…).
IUCN status : Endangered
