Puget Sound Fish

From Lumpsuckers to Pricklebacks  

Grunt sculpins, Pacific spiny lumpsuckers, midshipmen fish, canary rockfish, wolf eels, and decorated warbonnets all make their home in the waters of the Northwest. Divided into three habitats-eelgrass communities, deep sandy bottoms and rocky areas- the Puget Sound Fishes exhibit features fish a plenty!

Colorful juvenile rockfish are shown in a see-through tank that presents a unique photo opportunity for children peering through the glass. Bizarre-looking Pacific spiny lumpsuckers show off their round, spiny bodies with suctions cups for grasping onto eelgrass in heavy currents. The Aquarium was awarded the prestigious Bean Award by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association for its research and successful rearing of these charming fish.

The eelgrass community is newly recognized as important in the ecology of Puget Sound and is being protected by regional and federal governments. Fishes featured in this exhibit include eel-like blennies and pricklebacks living in old bottles and other crevices, the camouflaging pipefish and tubesnouts that are so well adapted to life in their environment, and sticklebacks that are comfortable in either fresh or salt water. Deeper fish highlighted include rare ratfish, split-nose rockfish, sound and light-emitting midshipmen fish and armored sturgeon poachers.