>From: Richard Mleczko <rrm at enmech.csiro.au>
>To: "Brackish Aquariums Listserv" <Brackish at fs2.law.missouri.edu>
>Subject: OUR WONDERFUL HOBY
>Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 16:14:19 +1000
>Reply-to: Brackish at fs2.law.missouri.edu
>Sender: Listmaster at fs2.law.missouri.edu
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>
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>
>The next day we went to see some aquarium stores. The first one was
>the Auburn Aquariums. It was great, a very large store and very clean.
>Good deals on tanks but not much variety in fish. The next store,
>Parramatta Aquariums should be closed down. Some of the tanks were so
>dirty you could hardly see the fish. The worst thing was the smell,
>from the bird cages, they also sold birds.
>
>After that we went to the Sydney Aquarium (a public aquarium - not a store).
>I have been there twice before, last time about a year ago. I was very
>impressed, many of the display tanks had been changed and they now keep
>many Australian species. Of interest to our newsgroup were :
>
>Archer fish (Toxotes chatareus),
>Bullrouts (Notesthes robustsa and Centropogon australis),
>Estuarine stonefish (Synanceia horrida),
>Mudskippers (Periophthalmus koelreuteri),
>Pacific blue eye fish (Pseudomugil signifer),
>Purple-spotted gudgeon ( Mogurnda modurnda),
>Silver batfish (Monodactylus argenteus),
>Silver scat ( Selenotoca multifasciata),
>Shark catfish (Arius jordani),
>Some toadfish and puffer fish,
>Various other brackish gobies.
>
>I talked to one of the keepers about the mudskipper display.
>The display is not a tank, but just a corner of a wall which they have
>converted into a mudflat complete with grey mangroves (Avicennia marina).
>It looks very realistic and there are dozens of mudskippers, very small
>ones to quite big ones. In the water there are some fish and some brackish
>gobies from Darwin harbour. It was inspirational ! I want one at home now.
>
>The next day we went to the north side of Sydney, (Manly) to the Ocean
>World, which is a marine aquarium.
>
>Last week I added another fish to my collection :
>Butis butis (common names - crimson-tipped gudgeon, bony-snouted gudgeon,
>crazy fish etc...)
>It is a very unusual fish, it likes to swim upside down and with its
>body in a vertical position. I have rarely seen it swim in the normal
>way. It also likes to rest stuck to a tree stump upside down.
>
>That's all for now - sorry it was so long.
>Cheers Richard.
>******************************************
>*Richard Mleczko *
>*CSIRO Centre for Environmental Mechanics*
>*GPO Box 821 *
>*Canberra, ACT 2601 *
>*Australia *
>*Phone : 61(0)62465583 *
>*Fax : 61(0)62465560 *
>*Email : richard.mleczko at enmech.csiro.au *
>******************************************
>