The Marine Pond

The marine pond is home to white-spotted dog sharks, draughtboard sharks, long nosed skates, stripey trumpeter, Tasmanian giant crabs and many more! Visitors are welcome to pat the sharks and skates.

Seahorse Tank

Seahorses are amazing animals. The Marine Discovery Centre houses five big-bellied seahorses. These delicate creatures share their home with their relatives the pipe horse and pipe fish. 

 

 

Sponge Garden Tank

Sponge gardens are as colourful as a coral reef and are found in the deeper reefs of Tasmania. Plate sponges, pumpkin sponges and finger sponges create a spectacular sight at the Marine Discovery Centre.  They also provide habitat for creatures such as elephant snails and nudibranchs.

 

Jetty Fish Tanks

Jetty pilons offer a relatively sheltered habitat on and around which a diverse range of animals and plants may live.  At the Marine Discovery Centre you will see octopus, leatherjacket, weed fish and a large number of other animals found around our local jetties.

Touch Tanks

There are two touch tanks at the Marine Discovery Centre. Here you can pat hermit crabs, sea stars, sea snails, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Watch out for the scallops - they have been know to squirt the unsuspecting visitor!

The Nursery

Currently our nursery tank holds five baby draughtboard sharks, the eggs of which were laid by adults in our pond.  Also in this tank are several recently laid skate eggs, swell shark eggs and an elephant fish (ghost shark) egg. 

 

Rock Lobster Tanks

The Centre houses numerous southern rock lobster, or crayfish as they are also known. With a carapace of only 15mm in length, the babies have a long way to go to match the size of the 20cm adults!