Aglantis

Habitat: Found throughout the tropics in the Indo-pacific from South Africa and the Red Sea all the way to Australia. They can also be found in the western Atlantic from the north coast of South America and southern Florida to Bermuda and are commonly found in the Caribbean.

Description: The banded coral shrimp is also known as the “boxing shrimp” because of the large pincers on its third set of legs. It often holds its pinchers up like a boxer ready to fight.

Diet: Scavenger species. Will feed on algae, detritus, carrion, and parasites.

Behavior: Very shy but aggressive towards competitors. Juveniles pair up and stay together for years. It has the ability to break off its claws and regenerate them.

Bio: John David Crowstacean spends much of his time behind the rocks, but will come out during feeding times. He’s named after the famous Aggie Former Student and Heisman winner John David Crow.

Description: This species gets its name from its blue head separated by black and white bars. The rest of its body is either green, yellow, or blue.

Habitat: Caribbean Sea and its adjacent waters (Florida, Bermuda, and the Gulf of Mexico)

Diet: A generalist forager that eats a variety of prey. Known to forage for small invertebrates and crustaceans on the reef’s surface, target individual zooplankton in the water above the reef surface, and clean the parasites off of larger species. 

Behavior: This species is capable of switching sex and has a very complex mating system that has been the topic of scientific study for decades. 

Bio: Ol’ Sarge is named after Texas A&M’s veteran mascot and comic character. 

Description: Although they are sometimes called the “flowers of the sea”, anemones are actually animals! Bubble tip anemones have tiny algae that live inside them (called zooxanthellae) that can photosynthesize energy from the sun. 

Habitat: Indo-Pacific area, including Red Sea

Diet: Primarily a filter feeder, it will try to eat whatever comes in contact with its stinging tentacles. It also eats the waste and debris cleaned from the surface of any clownfish that it hosts. Ours gets fed a piece of squid twice a week.

Behavior: Bubble Tip Anemones are known to wander around the tank. Once it finds a spot it likes, it uses its pedal disk to hold on.
 
Bio: Kyle is a new addition to the tank and likes to move around a lot. Once he grows large enough he will hopefully host one of our clownfish pairs!

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