The Wet Side of the Sonoran Desert

A "garden" of garden eels.  Sometimes divers think they are coming upon a patch of swaying grasses, but the "grasses" turn out to be these eels, which are about the size of earthworms.
(Photo from Wikipedia free license media repository.  Copyright by Truthseeker fawiki.)

The first four days of the New Year have been very cold here in the Sonoran Desert.  Today, that cold is amplified by gusty winds around 30 mph.  January is usually our coldest month with temperatures dipping below 50 during the day.  For those of us used to 90 degrees F and up, those temps feel quite chilly. 

Wednesday, Keith, Dean, Elaine, and I visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum's new aquarium.  Since we are contributing members, we received an invitation to preview the new exhibit without the crowds.  It was a great experience, with just a handful of us able to peer into various tanks at our leisure without being jostled about. 

I was impressed with the new Warden Aquarium. It is a small aquarium, with exhibit tanks filling only a couple rooms. But it tells the story about the other half of the Sonoran Desert region--of the rivers and sea that are major contributors to the lushness of our desert. One gallery is devoted to freshwater life of the Colorado River as it flows into the Gulf of California. The other gallery tells the story of life in the Sea of Cortez.  Who knew that such beautiful coral reefs and exotic fish abound within the Sonoran Desert region.  The diversity of life ranges from the largest minnow in North America (growing to 6 feet) to sea horses, lobsters, crabs, and eels.  It describes life in the Colorado river, Rio Yaqui, and Rio Sonora as it transitions through brackish habitats of mangrove to salt water.

We were all fascinated by creatures we'd never seen before, especially garden eels.  The tank containing these cute, colonial congers will likely be one of the most popular with visitors.  These tiny eels burrow into the sea floor using hard, shovel-like tails and rise above the sand to sway with the currents in search of food.  When a predator passes nearby, the eels all quickly sink back into the sand, leaving one wondering if what you've just seen was a really there. 



Garden eels peeking from just above the sandy bottom of the Sea of Cortez.
(Photo from Wikipedia free license media repository.  Copyright by KENPEI.)

Another of my favorites was the box fish.  This small bonyfish which resembles a puffer.  It secrets a toxic surfactant as a defense mechanism to avoid being eaten by other fish.

The aquarium officially opens to the public on Saturday, January 5.  Since the space is so small, the Museum plans to limit the number of viewers at a given time, although time-specific reservations are available for a $5 fee.  Otherwise, the aquarium exhibit is included in the overall museum admission price.  It is certainly worth a visit.




Box fish.
 (Photo from Wikipedia free license media repository.  Public domain by National Park Service, J.E. Randall, photographer.)