, officially Akita Prefectural Oga Aquarium, is an

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

located along

Oga Peninsula The Oga Peninsula (男鹿半島 ''Oga-hantō'') is a rugged peninsula which projects west into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Akita in northern Honshū, the main island of Japan. Politically it coincides with the city of Oga. At the base of ...

coast,

Oga Oga or OGA may refer to: Places * Oga, Akita, Tōhoku, Japan * Oga Peninsula, Japan * Oga, a ''frazione'' of Valdisotto, Italy People * Oga Atsushi, a Japanese sumo wrestler * My Oga at the top, Nigerian Pidgin English term for "boss" or "lea ...

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. GAO stands for Globe, Aqua and Ocean, and sounds like an Oga-native

Namahage The are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty ''oni'' (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes (''mino'') during a New Year's ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture. General descripti ...

shout.

Overview

Overlooking the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, it keeps and displays over 10,000 marine organisms, including those from Akita Prefecture's abundant marine resources and over 400 species of rare aquatic animals from around the world. This is the only

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

in Japan where they have

Japanese sandfish The Japanese sandfish (''Arctoscopus japonicus''), also known as the sailfin sandfish , is a species of fish of the Percomorpha (perch-like) clade in the order Trachiniformes, being one of the two genera in the family Trichodontidae, the sandf ...

on display all year round. They also have a touch pool section where you can handle different sea creatures, such as

sea urchin Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

and

sea cucumbers Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...

. During the New Year’s season, divers dress up as

and feed the fishes in the main tank. The aquarium has appeared in the film " Tsuribaka Nisshi 15".

History

The former Akita Prefectural Aquarium was founded in 1967, and displayed 300 species including

Otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

Penguins Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

and White caimans.

Exhibits

* Live sharksucker *

Red seabream Red seabream is a name given to at least two species of fish of the family Sparidae, ''Pagrus major'' and ''Pagellus bogaraveo''. ''Pagrus major'' ''Pagrus major'' is of great culinary and cultural importance in Japan, and is known as mad ...

* Takifugu xanthopterus * Japanese red seaperch * Pitted stingray *

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

* Japanese poacher * Stereolepis *

Omobranchus elegans ''Omobranchus elegans'' is a species of combtooth blenny found in the Northwest Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Oce ...

Japanese spider crab The Japanese spider crab (''Macrocheira kaempferi'') is a species of marine crab that lives in the waters around Japan. It has the largest known leg-span of any arthropod. It goes through three main larval stages along with a prezoeal stage to g ...

Sea raven Sea ravens are a family, the ''Hemitripteridae'', of scorpaeniform fish. They are bottom-dwelling fish that feed on small invertebrates, found in the northwest Atlantic and north Pacific Oceans. They are covered in small spines (modified scales). ...

Japanese tree frog ''Hyla japonica'', commonly known as the Japanese tree frog, is a species of anuran native to Japan, China, and Korea. ''H. japonica'' is unique in its ability to withstand extreme cold, with some individuals showing cold resistance at temperature ...

Pond loach The pond loach (''Misgurnus anguillicaudatus''), also known as the Dojo loach or oriental weatherfish, is a freshwater fish in the loach family Cobitidae. They are native to East Asia but are also popular as an aquarium fish and introduced else ...

* Acheilognathus tabira tohokuensis *

Pungitius ''Pungitius'' is a genus of sticklebacks. Species There are currently ten recognized species in this genus: * '' Pungitius bussei'' ( Warpachowski, 1888) * '' Pungitius hellenicus'' Stephanidis, 1971 (Ellinopygósteos) * '' Pungitius laevis'' ( ...

* Japanese fluvial sculpin *

Common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

* Montane brown frog * Southern fiddler ray * Melbourne skate * Nezumi fugu *

Spotted garden eel The spotted garden eel (''Heteroconger hassi'') is a heteroconger belonging to the family Congridae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific. Description The spotted garden eel is a small fish that can reach a maximum length of . Its body is anguiform ...

* Green chromis *

Xingu River ray The Xingu River ray, white-blotched river stingray, or polka-dot stingray (''Potamotrygon leopoldi'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Potamotrygonidae. It is endemic to the Xingu River basin in Brazil and as such prefers clear wat ...

Piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, ...

Southern rockhopper penguin The southern rockhopper penguin group (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), is a species of rockhopper penguin, that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subantarctic waters of the western Pacific and Indian O ...

* Northern sea nettle * Earless seals *

Sea lions Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

Jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella- ...

Gallery

File:Oga Aquarium 44.jpg, Opistognathus decorus File:Oga Aquarium.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 2.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 3.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 4.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 5.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 6.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 7.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 8.jpg,

Electric eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae. They are known for their ability to stun their prey by generating electricity, delivering shocks at up to 860 volts ...

File:Oga Aquarium 9.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 10.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 11.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium12.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 13.jpg,

Polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear species ...

File:Oga Aquarium 14.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 15.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 16.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 17.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 18.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 19.jpg,

File:Oga Aquarium 20.jpg,

Hatahata The Japanese sandfish (''Arctoscopus japonicus''), also known as the sailfin sandfish , is a species of fish of the Percomorpha (perch-like) clade in the order Trachiniformes, being one of the two genera in the family Trichodontidae, the sandfi ...

, a prefectural fish File:Oga Aquarium 21.jpg,

Pacific sandfish The Pacific sandfish (''Trichodon trichodon'') is a species of Trichodontidae, sandfish native to the Pacific coast of North America, from San Francisco Bay to Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands. Like its cousin the sailfin or Japanese sandfis ...

at Hatahata Museum File:Oga Aquarium 22.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 23.jpg,

Spotted seal The spotted seal (''Phoca largha''), also known as the larga seal or largha seal, is a member of the family Phocidae, and is considered a "true seal". It inhabits ice floes and waters of the north Pacific Ocean and adjacent seas. It is primarily ...

File:Oga Aquarium 24.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 27.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 34.jpg,

Pirarucu The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is any large species of bonytongue in the genus ''Arapaima'' native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America. ''Arapaima'' is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae within the family Osteoglossi ...

File:Oga Aquarium 35.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 36.jpg,

Longspine snipefish The longspine snipefish, bellowfish, common bellowsfish, snipe-fish, snipefish, spine trumpet fish, or trumpetfish, ''Macroramphosus scolopax'', is a snipefish of the genus '' Macroramphosus''. It is also known as the slender snipefish off the So ...

File:Oga Aquarium 37.jpg,

Bluestripe snapper The common bluestripe snapper (''Lutjanus kasmira''), bluestripe snapper, bluebanded snapper, bluestripe sea perch, fourline snapper, blue-line snapper or moonlighter, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a snapper belonging to the family Lut ...

File:Oga Aquarium 38.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 39.jpg, Redtail catfish File:Oga Aquarium 40.jpg,

Gentoo penguins The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The earli ...

File:Oga Aquarium 41.jpg, Common jellyfish File:Oga Aquarium 42.jpg,

Spotted jelly The spotted jelly (''Mastigias papua''), lagoon jelly, golden medusa, or Papuan jellyfish, is a species of jellyfish from the Indo-Pacific oceans. Like corals, sea anemones, and other sea jellies, it belongs to the phylum Cnidaria. ''Mastigias p ...

File:Oga Aquarium 43.jpg,

Parking lot

It can hold 630 cars and vehicles.

Notes

External links

* *
Namahage Shuttle
{{Authority control Aquaria in Japan Oga, Akita Tourist attractions in Akita Prefecture Buildings and structures in Akita Prefecture Museums in Akita Prefecture