When I wrote my text, Discovering Biological Psychology (please excuse the shameless self-promotion), I had some fun with the Sensation/Perception chapter talking about the different ways animals had adapted to their visual environments. My favorite example was the Amazonian fish, Anableps. Anableps must simultaneously scan the surface of the water for the bugs it eats while keeping track of predators below the surface. In order to do this, the fish has an eye that has two pupils, which allow it to see both areas at once. Although I was able to include a photo of the fish in the textbook, I had never seen one in person….until this week.
While visiting my daughter in Tennessee, I had an opportunity to see Ripley’s Aquarium in Gatlinburg. Living in California, I have seen my share of excellent aquariums, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I was very impressed with Ripley’s. One area of the aquarium focused on the fish of the rain forest, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a tank containing my friend the Anableps!
The aquarium also had several puffer fish on display. These, too, are favorite subjects of discussion for biological psychologists. When students start to feel a bit overwhelmed by electrical signaling, talking about how the puffer neurotoxin blocks sodium channels in the axon membrane can lighten things up a bit.
Of course, the highlight of the aquarium is the extensive central tank that is home to some very large sharks. A conveyer belt takes visitors along a curving plexiglass tube, providing some marvelous views of the sharks, sea turtles, sawfish, and other residents. Under some deep scratch marks on the tube, a sign informs you that the scratches were the result of a shark attack, with the reassurance that nobody had been hurt. Having a shark try to bite you through the tube would probably wake you up a bit. That’s me on the right having the only type of close encounter with a shark that seems reasonable…I’m not likely to take up scuba diving anytime soon.
For some reason, the Ripley’s folks also have a Mars display in the aquarium. My favorite part was the opportunity to “drive” a miniature Mars rover. Must be the videogamer in me.
Visiting the aquarium was a great way to spend the day. If you happen to visit the Knoxville area, this is a must see.
1 Comment
Dianawagen · October 17, 2007 at 10:54 am
This sound like an amazing adaption I love to see how strage creatures adapt to life in different environments. There is a special Planet earth didicated just to this topic. One of my favorites is the cave creatures that has a fish that can some how survive in an extreamly acidic envirionment. It somehow defies the laws of the tipical cell that needs a neutral ph level to funtion. And the glow worms were pretty cool too.
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