National Aquarium: Fourth Level - Animal Adaptation

 The fourth level  at the National Aquarium is dedicated in large part to various ways in which aquatic life adapts in order to survive.  There are well over a dozen tanks in this exhibit area.  And no end to the beauty and wonder of nature.

Just a few examples:

ARMOR

And what better species than Sturgeon?  What magnificent creatures!  And to think man has put them on the fast track to extinction from the Great Lakes of North America to the Caspian Sea in Central Asia.  These are Shovelnose Sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platoryhnchus, from the Missississippi and Missouri River systems.  They are the smallest member of the species found in North America.

Missed the adaptation here.  Too into the size of these freshwater aquarium fish in a more expansive tank.

FEEDING

The advent of these efficient tentacles and their use of the organic detritus of the reefs as a source of nutrients.

LUNGS

The little Lung Fish with both gills and lungs allowing it to walk on land for brief periods--the very ancient relative of the first Amphibians still among us today.

HIDING 

Yes, that's a fish!  A Reef Stonefish, Synanceia verrucosa, to be exact.

DISPLAYING

The opposite of hiding, in some cases it's the bright colors on some fish that intimidate their rivals and determine alpha status.