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Exotic guests from the deep
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The appealing entrance to the `Matsyadarshini' (above) and some of the species on display. - Photos: C.V. Subrahmanyam and K.R. Deepak
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A big fish with its jaws wide open beckons visitors to the Ramakrishna. Beach. They walk into its mouth to get a feel of the fascinating world of fishes. You guessed it right! It is the renovated `Matsyadarshini' aquarium, which is drawing huge crowds, especially, on Sundays and holidays.
The colourful fishes in myriad shapes and sizes inspire awe in the young and the old alike. The cute creatures moving in the water make one forget his/her worries at least for a while. "The `Matsyadarshini' is comparable to some of the best aquaria in the country," claim its organisers.
While fresh water fishes can be kept in an aquarium at home, the need for regular change of seawater and poor acclimatisation makes it a difficult proposition to rear their marine counterparts in domestic aquaria. It is here that public aquaria play an important role.
The first public display aquarium was opened in Robert's Park in England in 1853. The world's best aquarium is in San Francisco. The aquaria are placed in 10 levels one above the other.
The Matsyadarshini has 18 large and medium sized tanks. The large tanks can hold up to 10,000 litres of water. The tanks showcase both the marine and fresh water species. The marine varieties on display include the butterfly fishes, the lion fish, whose gills resemble the beard of a lion, the long horn cow fish, which has two projections like the horns of a cow on either side of its head, the surgeon major, peacock wrasse, Moorish idol, stone fish, perch dusky, red squirrel fish, clown fish, trigger fish, damsels, angels, coral trout, reed fish, electric ray, porcupine fish and sweet lip rabbit fish.
There are 40 varieties of freshwater fishes like pacus, Oscars, piranhas, gouramis and sucker cats on display.
The `electric rays' spend most of their time on the seabed and cover themselves with sand. Only the eyes and gills are visible. When threatened they are said to pass minute currents all around them to ward off predators. The fins and gills of `lion fish' can prove to be dangerous to humans. "Ramu, an aquarium worker at Matsyadarshini, was injured, when he accidentally came in contact with the species while changing the filter. His hands became numb and Rs.1,000 was spent on his treatment," says the aquarium director, C. Balasatish.
Like man, who tries to suppress the weak and meek, the big fishes prey on the fry. The aquarium organisers take care not to group the different species of fishes, which fight and sometimes eat the young ones. Sometimes even the same species fight and kill each other. "We acquired two Blue Angel fishes from Sri Lanka and put them in a tank. The fishes which were each 18 inches long were purchased at a cost of Rs.4000 each. They fought and killed each other. They would now be preserved in bottles," he says.
The Matsyadarshini will soon procure the Holy Koran Angel fishes from Sri Lanka. These fish species are so called as they have inscriptions on their tails, which resemble symbols from the Koran. "The Science City aquarium in Kolkata is much bigger in size than ours but the number of species it has is much lesser than ours. The aquarium in Chennai houses only fresh water varieties. A second aquarium is proposed to be set up in Chennai and we are partly giving consultancy for that project," he says.
Besides the fishes, the aquarium has rare marine invertebrates. The starfishes in gray, red and brown colours, orange and white tentacle anemones, sea anemones in green, pink, blue, light yellow and brown colours and the carpet anemones are a delight to watch.
Hundreds of people visit the `Matsyadarshini' everyday but how many of them can tell confidently that they had gained some knowledge after the visit? Most of the visitors do not bother to know about the different species and their unique characteristics.
"An audio-visual presentation highlighting the salient features of the different species on display, before the visitors actually have a look at them, is on the cards. The intention is to arouse their interest and make them appreciate these beautiful creations of God," he says.
"Zoology professors from far away Kerala and Nellore, impressed by the marine ornamental fishes on display, have sought our permission to send their students here to study the behaviour and other aspects of the fishes and we have agreed," says Balasatish.
"The aquarium draws water from the sea through a pipeline after rapid sand filtration. The fish tanks are equipped with individual filters, costing Rs.40,000 each. Proper filtration is essential for maintaining the water quality. This eliminates the need for changing the water every day. The properly filtered water can be changed once two to three weeks.
"The fishes are fed twice daily at 8 a.m. and again at 9 p.m. Squids, live prawns, dead prawns, artemia, boiled cabbage and dry feed, which has all the required minerals are given. This apart, they are given vitamin B complex drops and general aid tonics to overcome simple disorders and diseases."
The fishes are sourced from Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, South America and the United Kingdom besides Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.
The orders are placed on Internet and the fishes are kept in quarantine in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata for a month before they are brought here. They are kept in separate tanks for 15 days before being introduced into the regular tanks in the aquarium.
"We have plans to open a pet shop in the aquarium complex. The shop would sell different varieties of fishes and equipment needed for maintaining aquaria at home. The shop is expected to be inaugurated in the second week of this month," he says.
An aqua club would also be formed to facilitate exchange of ideas between hobbyists and aquarists. The hobbyists would be given special passes so that they can visit the aquarium frequently and know more about the different species. There can be exchange of fishes also.
When a group of 25 or more persons visit the aquarium, they can avail themselves of a discount of Rs.5 on each ticket. The admission for school children is only Rs.5 when they visit through their respective schools.
The rate for adults is Rs.25 per head and for college students it is Rs.10. Poor students and children of municipal schools are allowed free entry into the aquarium. Free transport is also arranged for the benefit of these children.
"A woman tourist from Hyderabad picked up an argument with me saying that the ticket price was high and demanded concession. But after coming out of the aquarium, she was prepared to pay even more for the ticket," recalls Balasatish.
Its average monthly electricity bill works out to Rs.50,000 and the expenditure on feed Rs.20,000. This will make visitors appreciate the ticket rate and pay the price ungrudgingly.
The aquarium is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on all days of the week, all through the year.
Discover the exciting world of fishes at Matsyadarshini.
B. MADHU GOPAL
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