The Dallas Children's Aquarium (Formally known as the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park) is an aquarium located in

Fair Park Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex in Dallas, Texas, United States, located immediately east of downtown. The area is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark; many of the buildings were constructed for th ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, USA. It opened in 1936 as part of the

Texas Centennial Exposition The Texas Centennial Exposition was a world's fair presented from June 6 to November 29, 1936, at Fair Park, Dallas, Texas. A celebration of the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836, it also celebrated Texas and Western Am ...

, becoming the first

Public Aquarium A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept b ...

in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The aquarium received an $8 million renovation in 2010. The Aquarium has six exhibit areas.

Freshwater Zone

The Freshwater Zone is located in the displays,

Red-eared slider The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (''Trachemys scripta elegans'') is a subspecies of the pond slider (''Trachemys scripta''), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, ...

s, a Northern caiman lizard, an alligator snapping turtle,

Longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...

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 volt ...

s., an

Axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. I ...

, Schneider's skink

Sheltopusik The sheltopusik (''Pseudopus apodus''), also commonly called Pallas's glass lizard the European legless lizard, or the European glass lizard, is a species of large glass lizard found from Southern Europe to Central Asia. Etymology ''Pseudo ...

, paradise flying snake, Gila trout, and various other freshwater aquatic animals. Paradise_Flying_Snake

The Intertidal Zone

The Intertidal Zone is located in the center of the aquarium and features lined seahorse,

upside-down jellyfish ''Cassiopea'' (upside-down jellyfish) is a genus of true jellyfish and the only members of the family Cassiopeidae. They are found in warmer coastal regions around the world, including shallow mangrove swamps, mudflats, canals, and turtle gra ...

, Oriental sweetlips,

archerfish The archerfish (spinner fish or archer fish) form a monotypic family, Toxotidae, of fish known for their habit of preying on land-based insects and other small animals by shooting them down with water droplets from their specialized mouths. ...

, a tank of various

cichlids Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted th ...

and other various fish. As well as an interactive tank of red garra (also known as Doctor Fish)

Shore Zone

Located to the left of the aquarium; The Shore Zone displays

spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

Toadfish Toadfish is the common name for a variety of species from several different families of fish, usually because of their toad-like appearance. "Dogfish" is a name for certain species along the gulf coast. Dolphin-Toadfish relationship Toadfish mak ...

, and batfish,

rhinoceros iguana The rhinoceros iguana (''Cyclura cornuta'') is an endangered species of iguana that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and its surrounding islands. A large lizard, they vary in length fro ...

clownfish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus '' Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus '' Amphiprion''. In the wild, t ...

goatfish The goatfishes are perciform fish of the family Mullidae. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mullus''. The family name and the English common name mullet derived from La ...

, four-eyed fish,

red lionfish The red lionfish (''Pterois volitans'') is a venomous coral reef fish in the family Scorpaenidae, order Scorpaeniformes. It is mainly native to the Indo-Pacific region, but has become an invasive species in the Caribbean Sea, as well as along the ...

big-belly seahorse The big-belly seahorse (''Hippocampus abdominalis'') or pot-bellied seahorse is one of the largest seahorse species in the world, with a length of up to , and is the largest in Australia. Seahorses are members of the family Syngnathidae, and are ...

, and more.

Near Shore

Immediately following The Shore Zone, the Near Shore Zone displays Wolf eels,

whitespotted bamboo shark The whitespotted bamboo shark (''Chiloscyllium plagiosum'') is a carpet shark with an adult size that approaches one metre in length. This small, mostly nocturnal species is harmless to humans. The whitespotted bamboo shark is occasionally kept ...

Laced moray The laced moray (''Gymnothorax favagineus''), also known as the leopard moray, leopard moray eel, tessellate moray or honeycomb moray, is a species of marine fish in the Family (biology), family Muraenidae. Description ''Gymnothorax favagineus' ...

, Atlantic sea nettles,

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 umbrell ...

, Peacock clownfish.

Offshore Zone

The Offshore Zone is located at the far left of the aquarium and features among other animals

Porcupinefish Porcupinefish are fish belonging to the family Diodontidae (order Tetraodontiformes), also commonly called blowfish and, sometimes, balloonfish and globefish. They are sometimes collectively called pufferfish, not to be confused with the morpholo ...

, blacktip sharks, laced morays, Common seadragon, and swell sharks.

Stingray Bay

Stingray Bay allows guests to feed and pet

cownose ray The cownose ray (''Rhinoptera bonasus'') is a species of Batoidea found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England, United States to southern Brazil (the East Atlantic populations are now generally considered ...

s, while seeing

southern stingray The southern stingray (''Hypanus americanus'') is a whiptail stingray found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Western Atlantic Ocean from New Jersey to southern Brazil. It has a flat, diamond-shaped disc, with a mud brown, olive, and gre ...

zebra shark The zebra shark (''Stegostoma tigrinum'') is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of . Adult zebra sharks ...

Bonnethead The bonnethead (''Sphyrna tiburo''), also called a bonnet shark or shovelhead, is a small member of the hammerhead shark genus ''Sphyrna'', and part of the family Sphyrnidae. It is an abundant species in the littoral zone of the North Atlantic ...

sharks, and

Mahi-mahi The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasi ...

As well as a plans for a new interactive tank featuring Starfish, Sea urchin Slipper lobsters, and others to open in 2022. Guests can book birthday parties and overnight parties that include a talk with an employee that includes a live animal and preserved parts of marine animals. Guests of the party can also feed the stingrays at Stingray Bay. Many field trips also visit the aquarium. The aquarium hosts summer and winter day camps for children in grades Pre-K to 5. Zebra_Shark_at_Dallas_Children's_Aquarium

Zebra_Shark_at_Dallas_Children's_Aquarium

Temporary closure

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Aquarium was permanently closed until the ZoOceanarium Group bought the aquarium on July 23, 2021. The aquarium reopened on September 24, 2021. There are currently plans for new exhibits in 2022.

References

External links

* Buildings and structures in Dallas Culture of Dallas Landmarks in Dallas Economy of Dallas Tourist attractions in Dallas Aquaria in Texas 1936 establishments in Texas {{Zoo-stub