| At Rockport we found the University of Texas Marine Science
Institute. They have a visitor centre with a free exhibition which turned
out to be quite interesting. |  |
 | There is a whole
shoal of these in one tank but I can't remember what they are. They are
about three inches across. |
| This really ugly looking fish is a striped burrfish. We've
actually found them in several aquaria. They must be fairly comfortable
since they co-exist with other fish quite well. |  |
 | There are several of
these very well-camouflaged and ugly fish (why are so many fish so ugly?)
This is a spotted scorpion fish. |
| This is a black margate which seemed incapable of staying still.
It just kept swimming in circles. |  |
 | This is a fairly
common fish called a redfish. It seemed very placid and remained quite
still. |
| Hidden behind a couple of barnacle-clad pipes we spotted this
lobster type fish with its long feelers. |  |
 | One of the tanks held
(amongst other fish) these two seahorses. There was supposed to be a third
but we couldn't see it. |  |
| We think this is a sea anenome since it was stuck to the glass in
the aquarium. |  |
 | There are
two cabinets housing a collection of 'sea beans' found in the area and which
had been donated by a former PhD student. These are 'disseminules', some of
which travel thousands of miles (eg from Africa) to arrive on the shores of
the Gulf of Mexico. Most are eaten by birds but some still manage to
germinate although conditions here are probably too cold. |
| There is also a collection of shells, also found in the Gulf, and
also donated by a couple of collectors. It includes the 'lightning' whelk
which is the state shell of Texas. These angel wings are just an example,
they are about five inches long. |  |
 | This white coral
'rock' is actually a collection of serpulid worm tubes. Each tube is
actually the secretion of mucus combined calcium carbonate from the water,
the worm just lives inside. |  |
|