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MEET THE ANIMALS

Animal Encyclopedia

Learn about aquatic species

Mote scientists work with many of these species to learn more about their roles in marine ecosystems and how to conserve their populations. You can even visit some of these species at Mote! Click on each species to learn more.

Species Type

Exhibit Location

69 Results

Alligator snapping turtle

Uniquely, alligator snapping turtles are the only species of turtle to have eyes positioned on the side of their head. This widens...

American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) in Myakka River State Park, Florida

American alligator

American alligators are endemic to the United States, meaning they don’t exist anywhere else in the world. More specifically,...

Atlantic deer cowrie

Atlantic deer cowries are aquatic snails that reside in benthic environments. These snails are broadcast spawners, meaning they...

Atlantic Sea Nettle

Atlantic sea nettle

Closely related, bay and sea nettles differ in a few minuscule ways. Bay nettles are half the size of the sea nettles and typically...

Freshwater Florida

Fishes, Sharks & Rays

Atlantic stingray

Atlantic stingrays prefer to live in brackish or freshwater environments, burying themselves under silt and sand of estuaries,...

Children Touching Animals at Contact Cove

Bahama sea star

Bahama sea star

Beaugregory

Beaugregory fish are hard to miss with their bright blue crowns and yellow bellies. Juveniles have a dark spot where the dorsal...

Aquarium Photos

Belted sandfish

Belted sandfish

Bermuda blue angelfish

Bermuda blue angelfish are hard to miss in reef communities with their bright blue and yellow coloring. Their bright colors making...

Black drum

The black drum is the largest species of drum. They have a highly arched back. Their backs are gray or black, and fade to a white...

Black mangrove

Black mangroves are native coastal plants. Despite its name, black mangroves have green leaves that are long and slender in shape....

Blackfin tuna

Blackfin tuna are a migratory species, and are an important species to commercial and recreational fisheries. They have torpedo-shaped...

Blue Parrotfish

Blue parrotfish

Blue parrotfish are a larger species of parrotfish, and adults are entirely blue. As juveniles, their coloration starts out as...

Sharks & Rays, Fishes

Bonnethead shark

Bonnethead sharks are smaller relatives to the hammerhead shark. They’re grayish brown in color with shovel-shaped heads.

Sharks & Rays, Fishes

Brown banded bamboo shark

Brown banded bamboo shark

Public domain via: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paralithodes_californiensis_3.jpg

California king crab

California king crabs are able to live in a variety of environments because of their ability to adjust to changing water temperatures....

Caribbean king crab

Caribbean king crabs are highly adaptable invertebrates and are able to live in polar or temperate aquatic ecosystems. This species...

Caribbean peppermint shrimp

Peppermint shrimp have a vibrant reddish/brown body with white striping. They are hermaphroditic, meaning they have both female...

Common Clownfish

Clownfish

Clownfish and anemones live in a mutual symbiotic relationship with each other. Clownfish use anemones as shelter from predators...

Cobia

Cobia are highly adaptable fish, able to survive in environments with low oxygen and high water temperatures. Fairly anti-social,...

Octopus & Kin, Invertebrates

Common octopus

The common octopus has smooth skin with special cells called chromatophores helping them change color quickly. Using camouflage...

Common Snook

The distinct black lateral line of the common snook make them easily identifiable. They have a sloping forehead and a protruding...

My complete revised and edited photos from the fall term as photography intern. These photos include multiple fish, otters, Cecil, Buffet, seahorses, crabs, and more.

Coney grouper

The coney grouper is hermaphroditic, meaning they are born female and mature into males, producing both eggs and sperm at different...

Cownose Ray at Mote

Sharks & Rays, Fishes

Cownose ray

Cownose ray

Crevalle jack

The crevalle jack is green/blue on its dorsal (top) side and silvery white on its belly. This coloration helps it blend into the...

Crevalle jack

Crevalle jack

Diamondback Terrapin

Diamondback terrapin

Diamondback terrapins are strong swimmers thanks to their muscular legs and webbed toes. Living in dynamic tidal environments,...

Dusky pipefish

Dusky pipefish have long and slender bodies. They’re born a bright yellow color and darken into a brownish-green as they...

Dwarf seahorse

Masters of disguise, dwarf seahorses can change the color of their skin to blend in with their surroundings. This is particularly...

Eastern indigo snake

Eastern indigo snakes differ from other snake species in many ways, like utilizing their extremely powerful jaws to capture their...

Feather blenny

Feather blennies are olive green with dark spots along their heads. They have two feathery tentacles branching off of the top...

Photos of Aquarium Animals by Miguel Montalvo

Fishes, Octopus & Kin

Flamboyant cuttlefish

Flamboyant cuttlefish have the ability to change the color of their skin to camouflage themselves from predators nearby. They...

Florida manatee

Florida manatees have large, paddle-shaped tails that make gliding through water easy. They have vibrrissae, or whiskers around...

French angelfish

In a mutualistic relationship with coral reefs, French angelfish eat parasites and debris, while the reef provides shelter and...

Gag grouper

Gag groupers like to gather and socialize along rocky ledges and coral reef ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean....

Gopher tortoise

This terrestrial turtle has stumpy hind feet and flat, shovel-like forelimbs. Gopher tortoises can range in color from tan and...

Gray angelfish

Gray angelfish are flat, oval-shaped fish, and as adults, they are mostly a grayish-brown. Juveniles are black with 5 yellow stripes....

Green Sea Turtle

Green sea turtle

The largest of all hard-shelled sea turtles, green sea turtles have special lenses in their eyes that refract sun rays allowing...

Green sea urchin

Green sea urchin

Gulf pipefish

Gulf pipefish have long and slender bodies. Females are a darker olive-brown color and males are much lighter. After an elaborate...

Hawksbill sea turtle

Hawksbill sea turtles have long, flat limbs perfect for gliding through the water with ease. Different from most other turtle...

Resident Sea Turtles

Kemp’s ridley sea turtle

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are highly adaptable swimmers, spending the majority if their lives in the water. Triangular shaped...

Leatherback sea turtle

Unlike other turtles, leatherbacks’ shells aren’t directly visible because they’re covered by a thick layer...

Lesser devil ray

Lesser devil rays get their name from their cephalic fins- two flexible fins near the front of their heads. When they are not...

Lined Seahorses

Lined Seahorse

Lined seahorses rely on their coloring and texture to camouflage themselves into their environment for protection from predators....

Spock the Loggerhead

Loggerhead sea turtle

Loggerheads have large paddle-like flippers making them master swimmers and divers. Their large eyes allow them to see in deeper...

Mahi-mahi

Mahi-mahi, also commonly referred to as dolphinfish, are large, brightly colored fish. The coloration of the mahi-mahi can range...

ID information for this pufferfish is needed. It was living in the same exhibit as Hang Tough the green sea turtle as of March 2023.

Map puffer

When feeling threatened, the map puffer has the ability fill their stomachs with water and inflate their bodies to scare off predators....