, officially Akita Prefectural Oga Aquarium, is an

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

located along Oga Peninsula coast,

Oga Oga or OGA may refer to: Places * Oga, Akita, Tōhoku, Japan * Oga Peninsula, Japan * Oga, a ''frazione'' of Valdisotto, Italy People * Ōga Atsushi, a Japanese sumo wrestler * My Oga at the top, Nigerian Pidgin English term for "boss" or "leade ...

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is estimated 915,691 as of 1 August 2023 and its geographi ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. GAO stands for Globe, Aqua and Ocean, and sounds like an Oga-native

Namahage The are demonlike beings portrayed by men wearing hefty ''oni'' (ogre) masks and traditional straw capes (''mino (straw cape), mino'') during a New Year's ritual, in local northern Japanese folklore of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture. ...

shout.

Overview

Overlooking the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

, it keeps and displays over 10,000 marine organisms, including those from Akita Prefecture's abundant marine resources and over 400 species of rare aquatic animals from around the world. This is the only

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

in Japan where they have Japanese sandfish on display all year round. They also have a touch pool section where you can handle different sea creatures, such as

sea urchin Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class (biology), class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body cove ...

and sea cucumbers. During the New Year’s season, divers dress up as

and feed the fishes in the main tank. The aquarium has appeared in the film " Tsuribaka Nisshi 15".

History

The former Akita Prefectural Aquarium was founded in 1967, and displayed 300 species including Japanese sandfish,

Otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the Rank (zoology), subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic animal, aquatic, or Marine ecology, marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae Family (biology), family, whi ...

Penguins Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

and White caimans.

Exhibits

* Live sharksucker * Red seabream * Takifugu xanthopterus * Japanese red seaperch * Pitted stingray *

Green sea turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exte ...

* Japanese poacher * Stereolepis * Omobranchus elegans *

Japanese spider crab The Japanese giant spider crab (''Macrocheira kaempferi'') is a species of marine crab and is the biggest one that lives in the waters around Japan. At around 3.7 meters, it has the largest leg-span of any arthropod. The Japanese name for this s ...

* Sea raven * Japanese tree frog *

Pond loach The pond loach (''Misgurnus anguillicaudatus''), also known as the Dojo loach, oriental weatherloachGomon, M.F. & Bray, D.J. (2020)Oriental Weatherloach, ''Misgurnus anguillicaudatus'' (Cantor 1842) ''Fishes of Australia'', Museums Victoria. Ret ...

* Acheilognathus tabira tohokuensis * Pungitius * Japanese fluvial sculpin *

Common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

* Montane brown frog * Southern fiddler ray * Melbourne skate * Nezumi fugu * Spotted garden eel * Green chromis * Xingu River ray *

Piranha A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...

Southern rockhopper penguin The western rockhopper penguin (''Eudyptes chrysocome''), traditionally known as the southern rockhopper penguin, is a species of rockhopper penguin that is sometimes considered distinct from the northern rockhopper penguin. It occurs in subanta ...

* Northern sea nettle * Earless seals * Sea lions *

Jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

* Japanese sandfish :

Gallery

File:Oga Aquarium 44.jpg, Opistognathus decorus File:Oga Aquarium.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 2.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 3.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 4.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 5.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 6.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 7.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 8.jpg,

Electric eel The electric eels are a genus, ''Electrophorus'', of neotropical freshwater fish from South America in the family Gymnotidae, of which they are the only members of the subfamily Electrophorinae. They are known for their electric fish, ability ...

File:Oga Aquarium 9.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 10.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 11.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium12.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 13.jpg,

Polar bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

File:Oga Aquarium 14.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 15.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 16.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 17.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 18.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 19.jpg, Japanese sandfish File:Oga Aquarium 20.jpg, Hatahata, a prefectural fish File:Oga Aquarium 21.jpg, Pacific sandfish at Hatahata Museum File:Oga Aquarium 22.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 23.jpg, Spotted seal File:Oga Aquarium 24.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 27.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 34.jpg, Pirarucu File:Oga Aquarium 35.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 36.jpg, Longspine snipefish File:Oga Aquarium 37.jpg, Bluestripe snapper File:Oga Aquarium 38.jpg, Image:Oga Aquarium 39.jpg, Redtail catfish File:Oga Aquarium 40.jpg, Gentoo penguins File:Oga Aquarium 41.jpg, Common jellyfish File:Oga Aquarium 42.jpg, Spotted jelly File:Oga Aquarium 43.jpg,

Parking lot

It can hold 630 cars and vehicles.

Notes

External links

* *
Namahage Shuttle
{{Authority control Aquaria in Japan Oga, Akita Tourist attractions in Akita Prefecture Buildings and structures in Akita Prefecture Museums in Akita Prefecture