At Tokyo Sea Life Park, from December 5th, 2013 (Thursday), they are exhibiting three types of fish related to the 2014 zodiac sign, the horse, in the "Topic Tank" in the Tokyo Sea area.

The first tank displays the "big-bellied seahorse," a type of seahorse found in Australia and New Zealand. Its appearance, with its tail wrapped around seaweed and standing upright, is quite unusual, but it is indeed a fish. If you look closely, you can see that it has small pectoral and dorsal fins. Seahorses are called "seahorses" in English. Perhaps their long, narrow faces and heads, which are bent at a right angle to their bodies, resemble horses.

The dark brown fish sharing the tank is a type of scorpionfish called a "horsefish." It can grow to over 20 centimeters in length. While its English name is horsefish, in Chile and Argentina, where they live, it's called "peschancho" in Spanish (pes = fish, chancho = pig). Whether it resembles a horse or a pig is debatable, but for the purposes of this discussion, let's call it a horsefish.

In the adjacent tank, we are exhibiting the "Domestic Horse." When you hear the name of a Japanese fish that sounds like a horse, this might be the first fish that comes to mind. When fully grown, it reaches a length of about 30 centimeters. While the filefish, a related species, is more famous as a food source, Domestic Horse filefish is equally delicious and is caught by fishing and fixed nets. The fish on display this time are juveniles, about 6 centimeters long. Compared to adults, the distance from the eye to the tip of the snout seems a little shorter, but it still has a distinctly "horse-like" Domestic Horse. Adult fish are on display in the beach aquarium.

Lastly, although not a fish, as a creature related to horses, we added a tank of "Bafun Uni" (sea urchin) on Thursday, December 11th. The name Bafun Uni seems to come from the fact that its shape and color resemble horse manure. It's quite an insulting name for a sea urchin, but contrary to its name, it tastes good and is eaten. For this special occasion, we are displaying it alongside a dried specimen of Przewalski's Horse 's horse droppings, which are kept at Tama Zoo. Do Bafun Uni and horse manure really look alike? Please compare them for yourself.

The Zodiac Exhibition runs until January 14th, 2014 (Tuesday). Please enjoy it.

Photo above: Big Belly Seahorse
Top center photo: Horsefish
Photo, bottom center: Domestic Horse
Photo below: Sea urchin

[Tokyo Sea Life Park]

(December 13, 2013)