More good news for the Belle Isle Aquarium. The facility, which had been closed from 2005-2012, is about to take possession of two electric eels. Neal Rubin has the details.
Detroit News: Reacquiring an electric eel became a priority, partly for the symbolic value and partly because they’re as cool and mysterious as they are creepy looking. Operations manager Richiard Kik IV bought two; small ones are only $180 to $200, and who was he to pass up a bargain?
They came from Peru and arrived at considerable expense inside separate plastic bags in crates. Their genders are uncertain, as are details of precisely how adult electric eels produce baby electric eels. As far as Kik knows, they’ve never been willing to demonstrate in captivity.
Since they might live 30 to 40 years and grow to 6 feet in length, each electric eel typically rates its own tank.
The aquarium is also picking up some faux-coral, rocks, and other tank accouchements from the recently closed National Aquarium in Washington, DC, including a 550-lbs fiberglass hull of a Great Lakes freighter. It arrived in two pieces.
