Taraporewala Aquarium | |
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18°56′57″N 72°49′12″E / 18.9492866°N 72.8200758°E | |
Date opened | 1951 |
Location | Marine Drive, Mumbai |
No. of species | 400 |
Volume of largest tank | 22,000 |
Annual visitors | 400000[1][2] |
Taraporewala Aquarium or Taraporevala Aquarium is India's oldest aquarium and one of Mumbai's main attractions.[3] It hosts marine and freshwater fish. The aquarium is located on Marine Drive.
The aquarium has a 12-foot long and 180 degree acrylic glass tunnel.[4][5] The fish are kept in large glass tanks, which will be lit with LED lights.[3]
The aquarium hosts 2,000 fish across over 400 species. Fish from overseas were introduced at the new aquarium. The number of new varieties of 70 marine fish included Helicopter, Arowana, Grouper, yellow-striped tang, bluespotted stingray, sea stars, clownfish, hark, triggerfish, Moorish idol,[3] Azure Damsel, Blueline Demoiselle, Purple Firefish, Cloudy Damsel, Copperband Butterflyfish, Schooling Bannerfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, White Tail Trigger, Clown Triggerfish and Blue Ribbon Eel. The 40 new varieties of freshwater fish include Red Devil, Jaguar, Electric Blue, Jack Dempsey, Frontosa and Catfish. These fishes will be housed in larger tanks than before with imported flexi glass for better visibility.[6] The aquarium continues to support sharks, turtles, rays, moray eels, sea turtles, small starfish and stingrays.
The aquarium is maintained by the Department of Fisheries. The aquarium's 16 seawater tanks and 9 freshwater tanks host 31 types of fish, while 32 tropical tanks contain 54 kinds of fish.[1] The tropical section of the aquarium features ecosystems such as the "moss aquarium" for pregnant fish, "plantation aquarium" that features imported varieties of water lilies and other aquatic plants and "island aquarium".[7]