Animals - Texas State Aquarium

American Alligator

Alligators are apex predators in the swamp, feeding on fish, amphibians, reptiles, and just about anything else they can get their jaws around.

American Alligator (Juvenile)

These alligators hatched about 6 inches long and weighing a few ounces, but can grow to be as much as 16 feet long and over 1000 pounds.

Atlantic Sea Nettle

The Atlantic Sea Nettle is also known as the East Coast Sea Nettle because this jellyfish inhabits the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Atlantic Spadefish

This disk-shaped fish spends its juvenile years in estuaries, before moving out into shallow mangroves, beaches, and harbors as an adult.

Atlantic Stingray

This species can be distinguished from the southern stingray by its elongated snout. True to its name, it is found in the western Atlantic Ocean.

Blue Crab

Native to the Gulf of Mexico, the Blue Crab is easily distinguishable by the color of its bright blue walking legs.

Blue Parrotfish

The parrotfish’s large beak is used to scrape algae and other organisms from rocks and hard coral.

Blue-winged Teal

A small dabbling duck, a Blue-winged Teal, is dwarfed by a Mallard and only a touch larger than a Green-winged Teal.

Bottlenose Dolphin

The bottlenose’s torpedo-like body and powerful tails allow them to speed through the water at more than 20 miles per hour.

Caribbean Flamingo

These birds get their vivid pink color from eating crustaceans. Their long necks and legs are made for wading shallow waters in search of food.

Common Sea Star

The most common starfish in the Atlantic, this starfish has five arms and can grow 30 cm across or larger. Usually found on rocky banks, where it feeds on mollusks and other invertebrates.

Cownose Ray

Found throughout the Atlantic and Caribbean, they can grow up to 45 inches in width and weigh 50 pounds or more. When threatened, they can use a barbed tail with toxin for defense.

Crevalle Jack

This large marine fish is distributed across most coastal waters of the Atlantic and can be found at depths of around 350 meters. A voracious predator of prawn, shrimps, and cephalopods.

Epaulette Shark

This shark gets its name from the white-lined black spots behind its pectoral fins, which resemble military epaulettes.

Goliath Grouper

The goliath grouper is the largest grouper species in the Atlantic Ocean, weighing up to 800 pounds. The Aquarium’s grouper is named Debbie.

Gray Angelfish

This large angelfish, also known as the black angelfish, is commonly found in shallow warm waters of the Caribbean, especially in coral reefs. It feeds mainly on sponges.

Great Barracuda

This blue-silvery fish is armed with powerful jaws and fang-like teeth, using surprise attacks to overrun its prey.

Green Heron

This small heron species is often seen with its long neck pulled in tight against its body. It inhabits small low-lying wetlands, where they feed actively on small fish, frogs, and invertebrates.

Green Moray Eel

Contrary to its name, this eel actually has brown skin and a yellow green mucus that gives the illusion of green skin.

Green Sea Turtle

The green sea turtle gets its name from the greenish hue of its skin. The green sea turtles in Tortuga Cay are Squirt, Crush, and Pickles.

Green-winged Macaw

This tropical bird can be found in forested areas of South America. Wild Flight’s green-winged macaw is named Zeppo.

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

These turtles look similar to green sea turtles, but have a parrot-like beak and a rough saw-like lining around their shell.

Hermit Crab

These crabs spend most of their lives underwater as aquatic animals, living in depths of saltwater.

Hogfish

Hogfish get their unique name from their long, hog-like nose, which they use to root around in the sand to find buried mollusks and crustaceans.

Horseshoe Crab

These invertebrates are considered living fossils, having first originated around 450 million years ago. They live in shallow ocean waters on soft and muddy bottoms, feeding on crustaceans and small fish.

Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle

The Kemp’s Ridley is the smallest sea turtle species and the most endangered, with a female nesting population of around 1,000.

Lionfish

Fish

This venomous fish is an invasive species in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

These turtles, which can weigh up to 300 pounds or more, are vulnerable in the wild due largely to entanglement in discarded fishing gear.

Lookdown

Highly adaptable, these fish can manipulate their pigmentation to reflect or dim light and camouflage themselves depending on their environment.

Moon Jelly

This common jellyfish species is translucent, revealing anatomy inside its bell. With limited swimming ability, moon jellies often drift with the current.

Motmot

This bird can be identified by the center tail feathers moving like the pendulum of a clock when perched.

North American River Otter

These highly-intelligent mammals live around rivers, canals, lakes, marshes, and bays, where they build their lives around water.

Nurse Shark

Nurse sharks are slow-moving bottom-dwellers. They get their name from their ability to suck prey out of crevices and shells with their mouth.

Ocelot

Our young ocelot Milla has unique color patterns that can distinguish her from other ocelots.

Palometa

Palometas are recognizable by their deep bodies, marked with four narrow bars on the sides, along with traces of a fifth fin nearer the tail.

Pencil Sea Urchin

Also known as “sea hedgehogs” for their spines, these echinoids have more widely separated spines than other urchins. Their spines are also not as sharp, often feeling like a dull stick.

Poison Dart Frog

Poison dart frogs get their toxins from the prey they eat, so they are not poisonous in managed care.

Porcupinefish

Commonly called a pufferfish, this species can inflate its body by swallowing air or water to deter predators. Sharp spines offer another line of defense.

Porkfish

The porkfish is a species of grunt native to the western Atlantic ocean. Primarily nocturnal predators, they hunt prey on the ocean floor.

Queen Angelfish

This vibrant fish is found in warmer waters of the Atlantic ocean. In the wild it feeds mostly on sponges, but also jellyfish, corals, plankton, and algae.

Rainbow boa

There’s a reason why these snakes are called “Rainbow Boas!” Their bodies are noticeably more vibrant than some other species out there.

Red Snapper

Named for its red color and its sharp, needle-like teeth, the snapper prefers the bottom of the ocean and can inhabit waters as deep as 300 feet.

Redhead

Redheads are medium-sized diving ducks with a smoothly rounded head and a moderately large bill.

Rio Grande Cichlid

Also known as the Texas cichlid, this freshwater species is the only cichlid native to the United States. It can grow over 33 centimeters in length, and males can develop a nuchal hump on their head.

Rock Beauty

The rock beauty’s appearance allows it to blend with the rocks and rubble of the coral reefs where they live. Young specimens are always female and can change into males when older.

Sandbar Shark

Also known as the brown shark, this shark gets its name from its preferred hunting ground of sandy shallow coastal waters.

Scarlet Ibis

This red bird used its curved, slender bill to forage for food in shallow water. The bird’s bright colors come from the crustaceans in its food.

Scarlet Macaw

This tropical bird is highly intelligent, filled with energy and personality. Caribbean Journey’s scarlet macaw is named Maya.

Sergeant Major

This species gets it name from the five black bars along its side, which resemble the insignia of the sergeant major military rank. Adult males can change color to a blueish hue while guarding their nesting sites.

Sheepshead

The sheepshead, recognizable by its broad vertical stripes, gets its name from their mouth shape, which resembles that of a sheep.

Shortnose Batfish

Batfish are an unusual species. Their fins are modified to allow them to “walk” on the ocean floor.

Southern Screamer

This unique-looking gooselike species has long red legs and has a very loud and far-carrying call.

Southern Stingray

This stingray is common to the Atlantic ocean. Its flat body allows it to conceal itself on the seabed, and a serrated barb containing a mild toxin in its tail can be used for defense.

Spotted Garden Eel

These small eels received their name because of how they “plant” themselves in the seabed, leaving only their top halves visible.

Tarpon

This large fish, nicknamed the silver king, is a voracious predator, feeding on small fish and crustaceans.

Toadfish

Getting their name from their toad-like appearance, these fish can produce sounds with their swim bladders, which they use as a mating call.

White Spotted Bamboo Shark

Bamboo sharks are oviparous (they lay eggs). Their egg casings are nicknamed “mermaid’s purses.”

Yellowtail Snapper

This snapper is the only known member of its genus. Because of its bright colors, it is popular with both recreational anglers and scuba divers.

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