Mote Marine Laboratory Announces New Limited-Time Exhibit

SARASOTA – Deadly poison. Killer punches. Looking like a rock and hoping for the best. Welcome to the world of Survivors: Beautiful and Extreme Adaptations — a new limited-time exhibit launching Feb. 1, 2014, in The Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory that will reveal what it takes to make a living as a marine animal or amphibian in today’s world.

The Vietnamese mossy frog (top), a master of camouflage, the peacock mantis shrimp (middle), which packs a powerful punch and the beautiful but toxic flamboyant cuttlefish are among the amazing animals that will be featured in Survivors: Beautiful and Extreme Adaptations, which opens Feb. 1, 2014 in The Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory.

Featuring the peacock mantis shrimp, whose punch packs the power of a .22-caliber bullet, the blue-ringed octopus, which has some of the strongest venom on Earth, and many other stunning survivors — including the first frogs ever displayed at Mote — the exhibit will reveal how animals are shaped by their environments.

Survivors is the third limited-time exhibit at Mote, following the highly successful exhibits Penguin Island and Sea Lions: On the Water’s Edge.

“Survivors will be the most diverse, colorful and exotic exhibit we’ve ever hosted — we’ll be featuring animals native to many different ocean basins around the world and demonstrating why nature has a place for all of them, including the most dangerous ones,” said Dan Bebak, Vice President for The Aquarium at Mote.

Survivors will also reveal how humans can stay out of the “most dangerous” category by helping ecosystems remain in balance.

Highlights from the exhibit include:

• Going to Extremes: Why do clownfish bunk up with stinging sea anemones? Why does the sea apple, a type of sea cucumber, spit out its internal organs when stressed? Discover survival strategies so unusual that they make your weirdest habits look positively mundane.

• Blending In vs. Standing Out: That age-old dilemma of the high school crowd means more than being popular in the animal kingdom. Learn why the Vietnamese mossy frog looks like a clump of lichen on a tree, while the fire-bellied toad has an underside like a neon sign.

• Pick Your Poison…Er…Venom? Is it poisonous or venomous? Set your terminology straight by visiting animals with toxic flesh, dangerous stings and deadly bites. No touch pools here!

• Human Nature: Learn why humans are game changers for animals struggling to survive — helping or sometimes harming — and how we can tip the balance for the better

Visitor Information
Survivors: Beautiful and Extreme Adaptations

Open Feb. 1 through Sept. 14, 2014, in The Aquarium at Mote Marine Laboratory.
Free with paid admission to The Aquarium. (Mote Members always get in free.) Pricing at mote.org/visit.
Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 365 days per year.