Taking A River Journey and Ocean Voyage at the Tennessee Aquarium

Visiting the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, TN, I was immediately impressed by the size of the buildings and campus. What makes this remarkable is that my visit took place one day after touring the Georgia Aquarium, a massive facility in its own right.

There are many things that make this facility unique and worth a visit.

It starts with two impressive and attractive buildings, River Journey and Ocean Journey. Both buildings are filled all the way to their glass roofs with exhibits and very attractive and informative graphics. The glass roofs have plants growing in the rafters with free flying birds nesting. The walls between displays serve as a gallery, and host some great marine life photos taken by staff members.

The main buildings are filled with themed exhibits at every turn. Scattered throughout the aquarium is one of the largest displayed turtle collections.

River Journey is the original Aquarium building. It features stunning freshwater creatures and habitats from the Southeast United States and from around the world. Visitors can explore two living forests under glass, and get face-to-face with giant catfish, prehistoric sturgeon and American alligators.

River Journey Exhibits
Appalachian Cove Forest
Tennessee River Gallery
Discovery Hall
Mississippi Delta
Rivers of the World
Seahorses (special exhibition gallery)

Favorite River Journey species include several alligator snapping turtles, the largest exceeding 150 pounds, and live in the Delta Country gallery. The largest freshwater turtle in North America, the alligator snapper, gets its name from its strong jaws and shell ridges that resemble an alligator's back. It lures its prey by lying in wait and wriggling its pink, worm-like tongue and can stay submerged almost an hour before coming up for air.

Ocean Journey takes visitors beneath the waves where 10-foot sharks, colorful reef fish, and graceful stingrays glide through amazing coral formations. Other galleries showcase cuttlefish, squid, crabs, and jellyfish. An indoor rainforest showcases the fluttering jewels of nature - butterflies.

Ocean Journey Exhibits
Tropical Cove (Forest Pool, Macaw Glade)
Shark Island
Butterfly Garden
Penguins' Rock
Secret Reef
Boneless Beauties
Undersea Cavern

Favorite Ocean Journey species include the Giant Pacific Octopus. Octopi are intelligent, highly adaptable animals. They can be found in almost every type of ocean environment, from the shallow waters near coasts to the deep sea, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The giant Pacific octopus, shown in Ocean Journey's "Boneless Beauties" gallery, is the largest of the octopus species. Like many octopi, the giant Pacific octopus has the ability to drastically change its color with its special pigment cells, called chromatophores, to blend into its environment or to attract a mate.

The Aquarium was established to be a part of a collaborative downtown revitalization effort. As a result they do not have a sit down restaurant in the facility. This has encouraged the development of dining facilities of every taste and price range to sprout up around the aquarium’s campus.

Tennessee Aquarium is located on the Tennessee River and the Aquarium offers a 90 minute educational cruise aboard their new 70 passenger boat the Rive Gorge Explorer. Here visitors are introduced to an unspoiled section of the river and see many of the 1,000 varieties of fauna in their natural habitat.

Across the street is the Tennessee Aquarium’s IMAX Theatre and Environmental Learning Lab. The massive six-story IMAX 3D Theater combines breathtaking crystal clear 3D images with state-of-the-art six channel IMAX digital sound. Most IMAX films run 45 minutes.

With all of these individual components it is easy to see why families spend an entire day at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Listed below are the turtle and seahorse species that you will see in Tennessee Aquarium’s renowned collection:

Turtles
Chelodina expansa                                         giant snake-necked turtle
Chelodina longicollis                                      Australian snake-necked turtle
Chelodina parkeri                                            Parker’s snake-necked turtle
Chelodina siebenrocki                                   Siebenrock’s snake-necked turtle
Chelus fimbriatus                                           matamata turtle
Emydura subglobosa                                    red-bellied short-necked turtle
Phrynops geoffroanus                                   Geoffroy’s side-necked turtle
Phrynops hilarii                                               spot-bellied side-necked turtle
Podocnemis erythrocephala                        red-headed Amazon side-neck turtle
Podocnemis expansa                                    Arrau turtle
Podocnemis unifilis                                       yellow-spotted Amazon River turtle
Carettochelys insculpta                                 Fly river turtle
Chelonia mydas                                             common green turtle
Chelydra serpentine                                      snapping turtle*
Macroclemys temminckii                              alligator snapping turtle
Chinemys nigricans                                      red-necked pond turtle
Cuora galbinifrons                                         Indochinese box turtle
Cuora trifasciata                                            Chinese three-striped box turtle
Geoclemys hamiltonii                                   spotted pond turtle
Geoemyda spengleri                                    black-breasted leaf turtle
Heosemys spinosa                                       spiny hill turtle*
Kachuga smithii                                             brown roofed turtle
Kachuga tentoria circumdata                      pink-ringed tent turtle*
Mauremys japonica                                      Japanese pond turtle
Pyxidae mouhotii                                           keeled box turtle
Rhinoclemmys funereal                              black wood turtle
Sacalia bealei                                                four-eyed turtle
Sacalia quadriocellata                                 four-eyed turtle
Chrysemys picta dorsalis                            southern painted turtle
Clemmys guttata                                           spotted turtle*
Deirochelys reticularia chrysea                  Florida chicken turtle
Emydoidea blandingii                                   Blanding’s turtle
Glyptemys muhlenbergii                               bog turtle*
Graptemys barbouri                                      Barbour’s map turtle
Graptemys flavimaculata                              yellow-blotched map turtle
Graptemys geographica                               common map turtle
Graptemys nigrinoda delticola                    delta black-knobbed map turtle
Graptemys oculifera                                       ringed map turtle*
Graptemys ouachitensis                              Ouachita map turtle
Graptemys ouachitensis ouachitensis     Ouachita map turtle
Graptemys ouachitensis sabinensis        Sabine map turtle
Graptemys pseudogeographica                false map turtle
Graptemys pseudogeographica kohnii                                Mississippi map turtle
Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica      false map turtle
Malaclemys terrapin                                                                 diamondback terrapin
Pseudemys alabamensis                             Alabama redbelly turtle
Pseudemys concinna                                     river cooter
Pseudemys concinna hieroglyphica           hieroglyphic river cooter
Pseudemys nelsoni                                       Florida redbelly turtle
Terrapene carolina Carolina                        eastern box turtle
Terrapene carolina major                             Gulf Coast box turtle
Terrapene ornate ornate                               ornate box turtle*
Trachemys scripta                                          slider
Trachemys scripta elegans                          red-eared slider
Trachemys scripta scripta                             yellowbelly slider
Trachemys scripta troostii                             Cumberland slider
Trachemys scripta venusta                           Meso-American slider
Kinosternon carinatum                                  razorback musk turtle
Kinosternon depressus                                flattened musk turtle
Kinosternon minor peltifer                            stripeneck musk turtle
Kinosternon odoratum                                  common musk turtle
Kinosternon subrubrum                               subrubrum eastern mud turtle
Staurotypus triporcatus                                 Mexican giant musk turtle
Platysternon megacephalum                      big-headed turtle
Platysternon megacephalum peguense  Southeast Asian big-headed turtle*
Platysternon megacephalum shiui            Vietnamese big-headed turtle*
Geochelone elegans                                    star tortoise
Homopus signatus                                       speckled cape tortoise
Malacochersus tornieri                                 African pancake tortoise
Apalone spinifera aspera                            Gulf Coast spiny softshell turtle
Apalone spinifera spinifera                         eastern spiny softshell turtle

The turtle species listed with asterisks are held in back-up areas or in their education department.

Hippocampus erectus                                  lined seahorse
Hippocampus reidi                                        longsnout seahorse
Hippocampus whitei                                     White’s seahorse
Hippocampus abdominalis                         potbelly seahorse
Hippocampus zosterei                                 dwarf seahorse

Dunckerocampus dactyliophorous            banded pipefish
Doryhamphus excisus                                  blue stripe pipefish
Syngnathus scovelli                                       American gulf pipefish
Doryhamphus jansii                                      Janss’ pipefish
Syngnathoides biaculeatus                         Alligator pipefish

Haliichthyes taeniophorus                           ribboned pipehorse
Phylopteryx taeniolatus                                 weedy seadragon
Phycodurus eques                                        leafy seadragon

Aeoliscus strigatus                                       coral shrimpfish

The ribboned pipehorses (seadragon) are not that closely related to seadragons. The pipehorse name is derived from their an angled head, prehensile tail like seahorses, and a linear body similar to a pipefish (plus the offspring have a caudal fin when they first hatch).

Tennessee Aquarium is successful breeding the following species: H. erectus, H. zosterae and H. whitei.