Birch Aquarium at Scripps is home to more than 9,000 unique creatures — and some of the most fascinating ones are the hardest to find. The aquarium just shared a guide to five masters of disguise that reward visitors who slow down and look closely. Consider it a treasure hunt for your next visit to La Jolla.
First up: the California Two-spot Octopus. At first glance it appears to have four eyes, thanks to a circular black spot ringed in blue on each side of its head — possibly a trick to confuse predators and prey. Like all octopuses, it changes color and texture with its chromatophores to melt into its surroundings. You can sometimes catch one during feedings in the center tidepool on Tide Pool Plaza (check the daily schedule for times).
Then there’s the Starry Flounder, buried in the sand of the Scripps Pier habitat. Both of its eyes ended up on the same side of its body as it matured, so it swims sideways — with a wiggle the aquarium compares to “the worm” dance. The Pacific Angel Shark is a master of patience: it pumps water over its gills while lying on the ocean floor, then springs up to ambush passing fish. Find it hiding in the sand in Sharks & Rays.
Don’t miss the Mandarin Dragonet, a tiny fish with electric orange and blue patterns that hides among the rocks in Seadragons & Seahorses, or the Grunt Sculpin, which skips swimming and instead crawls along the seafloor on finger-like fins in the Living Seas habitat. Small, sneaky, and completely charming — that’s Birch Aquarium at its best.
Photo: Jerry Kirkhart via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
