NEWPORT, Ky. — The Newport Aquarium is opening a new exhibit as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.
"Ring of Fire: World of the Octopus" is set to open Friday, March 22.
The exhibit will have seven different displays that focus on "the bizarre and fascinating creatures that live between towering volcanoes and deep ocean trenches in this part of the world that boasts the most earthquakes of any region on the planet," the aquarium said.
A giant pacific octopus will be part of "Octopus Den," where visitors enter a cave and find a floor-to-ceiling display for the animal to explore and show it's color-changing, shape-shifting behavior. Octopus Den will also have other octopuses and fish, as well. The exhibit's first visitors will meet the wunderpus, which is an striped octopus that mimics the appearance of venomous animals, such as sea snakes and lionfish.
Another display in the exhibit will contain animals that live on a cluster of hydrothermal vents, which are structures that form in the deep sea where lava meets near-freezing seawater. The 360-degree display also has bubbles and fizzes to mimic the "chemical soup" spewed from the vents, which forms the basis for an ecosystem of fish, anemones, crabs and lobsters.
Other new animals throughout the exhibit include the painted greenling, which lives among venomous sea anemones, the penpoint gunnel, an eel-like fish that can mimic the colors of its surroundings and also breath air, and the peacock mantis shrimp, which has an iridescent body that resembles a peacock feather.
Rebecca Foster, executive director at the aquarium, said she hopes the exhibit will connect visitors with the animals in a way that will inspire visitors to want to protect the creatures and their habitats in the wild.
"I'm so proud of the hard work the team puts in to bring unusual animals that our guests would otherwise never have a chance to see," Foster said.
Those interested in visiting the new exhibit can click here to purchase tickets in advance.
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