Fish » Chester Zoo

Fish
05-08-2008

Just a quick question really, but by all means discuss anything fish related here.

I posted a photograph on the gallery of the Noah Fountain, commenting that I thought there were sturgeon in the pool. There were big fish in there at least, and they looked like sturgeon to me. Zoogiraffe said he wasn't sure about this, which made me doubt myself, and I couldn't find anything about sturgeon on ISIS. Normally I don't bother going to look at the fountain, so I don't know if the fish are still there. The time I saw them was about 2005. Are these fish still there, and what are/were they?

Cheers,

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Chris

06-08-2008

I hardly ever going to look at the fountain eihter, and I've never ever looked for fish in the pond.

The last record I have for sturgeon at Chester is in 1992.

I would think there may have been rudd, carp or orfe in the pond as has been done in other areas of the zoo, but I couldn't say for certain.

If there were sturgeon in there they certainly kept it quiet.

06-08-2008

I`m not saying that the fish are not in their just that i`ve never heard any mention of them by any members of staff i know.But if you are going to put them in a pond that ones about as good as it gets for them,they used to have them in the aquarium many years ago.

06-08-2008

I remember seeing Rudd and Orfe in the Orang moat along with the odd terrapin.

I don't know when I'll next be at Chester, nearly a year since my last visit, but if someone gets there before me, could they have a look in the Noah pool?

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Chris

06-08-2008

I may be going tomorrow, if so, i'll pop down there and take a picture of any inhabitants.

06-08-2008

I'm not familiar with the fountain or it's inhabitants, but if you think there may be sturgeons, then what you have seen are probably sterlets. These are a small (~1m) European species that have become popular as additions to large ponds - they need good aeration, hence fountain.

Look for them at any large aquatics store.

06-08-2008

Sterlet (Accipenser ruthens) and shovel-nosed sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus) were the two species last listed as kept at Chester.

06-08-2008

I have seen these at a local koi centre, didn't know they were called sterlets until now though. I thought the ones at Chester were bigger maybe, but that could be either my memory serving me wrong, or they could just be very old fish.

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Chris

07-08-2008

I visited Chester today and had a look in the sunken garden.

It looks like Sterlet that are in the noah fountain pool. I can't be 100% sure, because the pool was murky.

07-08-2008

Thanks for checking Jimmy, that sounds as though it's right.

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Chris

07-08-2008

Well i stand corrected now if they have got Sterlet in there then where did the Birchirr that used to be in the Orang Moat that went under Realm of the Red Ape go then????????

11-08-2008

Bichir are a tropical African species that could not survive a British winter. Was the fish in question inside or outside? Maybe it was transferred to the Aquarium (if it still stands).