What would be your Aquatic Expansion roster?

yoav_r

yoav_r
You get to decide the roster for a full on aquatic expansion.

The rules
  • You get 30 animal slots
  • All animals are valid, from tiny fish, to sharks to cetaceans to otters, long as they are (mostly) aquatic
  • For the sake of the exercise, corals, anemones, sponges and the like are not considered animals
  • Assume the existance of aquatic mechanics
  • Try to make the expansion coherent, varied and useful
 

Captain Callum

Captain Callum
  • Sea Otter
  • Walrus
  • Gentoo Penguin
  • Bottlenose Dolphin
  • Giant Pacific Octopus
  • Blacktip reef shark
  • Nurse shark
  • Leopard shark
  • Sand Tiger Shark
  • Moon Jellyfish
  • Pacific Nettle
  • Moray Eel
  • Piranha
  • Koi fish
  • Blue tang
  • Clownfish
  • Arapaima
  • West African lungfish
  • Lined seahorse
  • Eagle ray
  • Cownose stingray
  • West Indian manatee
  • West African slender snouted crocodile
  • Spotted necked otter
  • Loggerhead sea turtle
  • Alligator snapping turtle
  • Chinook salmon
  • Butterflyfish
  • Black grouper
  • African cichlids
 

nutrit

nutrit
1. Manatee
2. Walrus
3. Harbor seal
4. Bottlenose dolphin
5. Beluga
6. Harbor porpoise
7. Hammerhead shark
8. Sawfish
9. Guitar fish
10. Sand shark
11. Bull ray
12. Murray
13. Barracuda
14. Sea turtle
15. Paddlefish
16. Sailfish
17. Sea otter
18. Arapaima
19. Pacu
20. Red tail catfish
21. Freshwater stingray
22. Rockhopper penguin
23. Gentoo penguin
24. Sturgeon
25. Giant puffer fish
26. Lungfish
27. Giant pangasius
28. Pig-nosed turtle
29. Clown knife fish
30. Arowana
 

NZFanatic

NZFanatic
Thirty slots is excessive IMO. Of course this isn't something I even remotely want so it's difficult from the start. I'll include the two cetaceans I think would be likely even if I don't personally want them:
  1. Sea otter.
  2. Southern fur seal.
  3. Gentoo penguin.
  4. Southern rockhopper penguin.
  5. Great white pelican.
  6. Beluga whale.
  7. Bottlenose dolphin.
  8. West Indian manatee.
  9. Green sea turtle.
  10. Sevengill shark.
  11. Tassled wobbegong.
  12. Grey nurse shark.
  13. Lemon shark.
  14. Arapaima.
  15. Tambaqui (colossal pacu).
That basically sums up my habitat roster. Assuming we get a range of new exhibits:
  1. Common octopus.
  2. Ocellaris clownfish.
  3. Porcupinefish (of some description).
  4. Spot-fin lionfish.
  5. Zebra moray.
  6. Red-bellied piranha.
  7. Eastern snake-necked turtle.
  8. Inca tern (walkthrough).
  9. Atlantic puffin (walkthrough).
  10. Spotted shag (walkthrough).
More or less as much as I can think of. With the clownfish, I'd ideally prefer some kind of mixed-species coral reef aquarium in which we can place a bunch of different species, but out of all of them the clownfish seems to be the most obvious contender for solitary confinement.

For foliage, I'd group living corals, anenome, and so on under this branch, so you'd see all of that, and sponges, too. Seagrass would be an obvious one along with kelp. The rock set would be covered in shellfish like limpets, barnacles, mussells and such.

In terms of enrichment items, I'd include a training stage for the cetaceans, but no actual shows. Training can be enriching. I'd also include a rock bucket for the otters, floating buoy as a shelter for pelicans, penguins, and pinnipeds, and underwater bubblers. I really have no idea what kind of enrichment sharks would require.

I don't know what scenery could be added that isn't already present in the Aquatic Pack, but I'd want a salinity facility so there's a management aspect to keeping saltwater species.
 

Chuditch

Chuditch
If aquatic expansions were to happen I think it'd be neat if they were split between two different packs - one for freshwater and another for saltwater (some species included occur in both, but still). It is also probably more realistic to get 15 species per pack than 30 species in one.

Freshwater Expansion
  1. West Indian Manatee
  2. Great White Pelican
  3. African Slender-snouted Crocodile
  4. Mertens' Water Monitor
  5. Green Anaconda [E]
  6. Alligator Snapping Turtle [E]
  7. Chinese Giant Salamander [E]
  8. Australian Lungfish [E]
  9. Arapaima
  10. Koi
  11. Tiger Shovelnose Catfish [E]
  12. Red-bellied Piranha [E]
  13. Electric Eel [E]
  14. Largetooth Sawfish
  15. Bull Shark
Bayou scenery theme

Saltwater Expansion
  1. Walrus
  2. Sea Otter
  3. Gentoo Penguin
  4. Atlantic Puffin [WE]
  5. Green Sea Turtle
  6. Lined Seahorse [E]
  7. Ocellaris Clownfish [E]
  8. Red Lionfish [E]
  9. Zebra Moray [E]
  10. Blue Tang [E]
  11. Barred Mudskipper [E]
  12. Blue-spotted Ribbontail Ray
  13. Tasselled Wobbegong
  14. Blacktip Reef Shark
  15. California Two-spot Octopus [E]
Aquarium scenery theme
 
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Cynogale bennettii II

Cynogale bennettii II
1. West Indian manatee - The main marine mammal I would actually want, as it is the kind most often kept in zoos
2. Sea otter - Not my most-wanted marine mammal, but would make for an interesting addition
3. Eurasian otter - Would add an animal that could use basically every biome, and can live in both salt and freshwater
4. Common bottlenose dolphin - The most commonly-kept cetacean, and probably the one that does best in captivity
5. Irrawaddy dolphin - An endangered Southeast Asian species that has been bred in captivity, and can live in both salt and freshwater
6. Great white pelican - The main aquatic bird I really want, able to live in both salt and freshwater environments
7. Hawksbill sea turtle - The rarest and most colourful sea turtle that is part of a successful captive breed-and-release project in Israel
8. West African slender-snouted crocodile - A critically endangered African freshwater crocodilian, the key missing crocodilian type
9. Blacktip reef shark - A threatened coral reef shark, one of the most widely-kept and bred shark species in captivity
10. Leopard shark - A temperate Pacific shark species, docile enough to be mixed with penguins and sea otters
11. Bonnethead shark - A small endangered hammerhead, probably the only hammerhead that does well in aquaria
12. Ocellate river stingray - A freshwater stingray, an ideal addition to tanks for caiman, capybara and other aquatic South American species
13. Largetooth sawfish - A large critically endangered fish that occurs throughout the tropics in both salt and freshwater habitats
14. Arapaima - One of the largest freshwater fish, another ideal addition to South American tanks which is commercially farmed in South America
15. Giant pangasius - A critically endangered giant Southeast Asian catfish, often kept in mixed tanks and moats with other species

And then, exhibit species (again, I have only chosen fish that have been successfully bred in captivity):
16. Inca tern - One of two seabirds for the walkthrough exhibit; commonly-kept, highly active and with a distinctive appearance
17. Atlantic puffin - Also for the walkthrough exhibit; a North Atlantic seabird that is a threatened species and is also bred in captivity
18. Green anaconda - A giant snake that is heavily dependent on freshwater and often spends most of its time in water
19. Ocellaris clownfish - Probably the best-known marine fish; now so commonly bred in captivity it comes in several artificial colour variations
20. Banggai cardinalfish - An endangered species of coral reef fish found in Southeast Asia; is regularly bred in zoos and aquariums
21. Orangespotted filefish - A threatened species of beautiful coral reef fish that has been successfully bred in aquaria
22. Long-snouted seahorse - A temperate marine fish, that is highly charismatic and can be bred quite regularly in captivity
23. Indian dwarf pufferfish - A tiny pufferfish species that can be kept in large shoals; is a freshwater Indian species that breeds in aquaria
24. Red-bellied piranha - Probably the most commonly-kept freshwater fish in European zoos; very charismatic and able to breed in aquarium settings
25. Lake Malawi cichlid Labidochromis zebroides - An endangered species of African fish that is bred in the aquarium trade
26. Zebra plecostomus - A critically endangered black-and-white striped catfish native to South America
27. Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp - A commonly kept reef cleaner shrimp, that is now quite regularly bred for aquaria
28. Moon jellyfish - The easiest to breed and most commonly-kept species of jellyfish
29. Sunflower sea star - A temperate marine invertebrate, a critically endangered species of sea star
30. Fiddler crab - A small and active crab that has been bred in zoos (Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands have certainly done so)
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
yoav_r said:
You get 30 animal slots
Click to expand...
30?😃 Ok, I guess I can Work with that👍

-Bottlenose Dolphin
-Giant Pacific Octopus
-Bull Shark
-Tiger Shark
-West Indian Manatee
-Arapaima
-Alligator Gar
-Walrus
-Gentoo Penguin
-Adelie Penguin
-a antarctic Seal Species
-Mangarahara Cichlid
-Goldfish
-Koi
-Maine Lobster
-a Species of Horseshoe Crab or Triops
-Japanese Spider Crab
-Bargibant's seahorse (if it isn't too small to be a Exhibit Animal)
-Common Clownfish
-Whale Shark
-Beluga
-Orca
-False Killer Whale
-Sea Otter
-Green Sea Turtle
-Olive Sea Snake
-Humboldt Squid
-Lionfish
-Big-Belly Seahorse
-Electric Eel

Ok, 30 Places aren't really enough 😅
 

yoav_r

yoav_r
Cynogale bennettii said:
1. West Indian manatee - The main marine mammal I would actually want, as it is the kind most often kept in zoos
2. Sea otter - Not my most-wanted marine mammal, but would make for an interesting addition
3. Eurasian otter - Would add an animal that could use basically every biome, and can live in both salt and freshwater
4. Common bottlenose dolphin - The most commonly-kept cetacean, and probably the one that does best in captivity
5. Irrawaddy dolphin - An endangered Southeast Asian species that has been bred in captivity, and can live in both salt and freshwater
6. Great white pelican - The main aquatic bird I really want, able to live in both salt and freshwater environments
7. Hawksbill sea turtle - The rarest and most colourful sea turtle that is part of a successful captive breed-and-release project in Israel
8. West African slender-snouted crocodile - A critically endangered African freshwater crocodilian, the key missing crocodilian type
9. Blacktip reef shark - A threatened coral reef shark, one of the most widely-kept and bred shark species in captivity
10. Leopard shark - A temperate Pacific shark species, docile enough to be mixed with penguins and sea otters
11. Bonnethead shark - A small endangered hammerhead, probably the only hammerhead that does well in aquaria
12. Ocellate river stingray - A freshwater stingray, an ideal addition to tanks for caiman, capybara and other aquatic South American species
13. Largetooth sawfish - A large critically endangered fish that occurs throughout the tropics in both salt and freshwater habitats
14. Arapaima - One of the largest freshwater fish, another ideal addition to South American tanks which is commercially farmed in South America
15. Giant pangasius - A critically endangered giant Southeast Asian catfish, often kept in mixed tanks and moats with other species

And then, exhibit species (again, I have only chosen fish that have been successfully bred in captivity):
16. Inca tern - One of two seabirds for the walkthrough exhibit; commonly-kept, highly active and with a distinctive appearance
17. Atlantic puffin - Also for the walkthrough exhibit; a North Atlantic seabird that is a threatened species and is also bred in captivity
18. Green anaconda - A giant snake that is heavily dependent on freshwater and often spends most of its time in water
19. Ocellaris clownfish - Probably the best-known marine fish; now so commonly bred in captivity it comes in several artificial colour variations
20. Banggai cardinalfish - An endangered species of coral reef fish found in Southeast Asia; is regularly bred in zoos and aquariums
21. Orangespotted filefish - A threatened species of beautiful coral reef fish that has been successfully bred in aquaria
22. Long-snouted seahorse - A temperate marine fish, that is highly charismatic and can be bred quite regularly in captivity
23. Indian dwarf pufferfish - A tiny pufferfish species that can be kept in large shoals; is a freshwater Indian species that breeds in aquaria
24. Red-bellied piranha - Probably the most commonly-kept freshwater fish in European zoos; very charismatic and able to breed in aquarium settings
25. Lake Malawi cichlid Labidochromis zebroides - An endangered species of African fish that is bred in the aquarium trade
26. Zebra plecostomus - A critically endangered black-and-white striped catfish native to South America
27. Scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp - A commonly kept reef cleaner shrimp, that is now quite regularly bred for aquaria
28. Moon jellyfish - The easiest to breed and most commonly-kept species of jellyfish
29. Sunflower sea star - A temperate marine invertebrate, a critically endangered species of sea star
30. Fiddler crab - A small and active crab that has been bred in zoos (Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands have certainly done so)
Click to expand...
Love the explanations!
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
Just read a Publication by the Okinawa Aquarium about captive Breeding of Whale Sharks. Seems like there weren't any successfully bred at the Time that Article was written but their male Whale Shark was already attempting to do it. Does anyone know if it worked since then in some Aquarium or Zoo to breed them? If not I might change the Whale Shark to something else on the List. Or Frontier could add them but they'll only have a small Chance to actually breed when they are fully researched🤔
churaumi.okinawa

Breeding in Captivity

At the Aquarium, we don’t just keep and exhibit sea creatures - we also carry out research activities.
churaumi.okinawa churaumi.okinawa
You need to scroll a bit down on the Page. It has multiple Articles
 

Captain Callum

Captain Callum
Urufu1997 said:
Just read a Publication by the Okinawa Aquarium about captive Breeding of Whale Sharks. Seems like there weren't any successfully bred at the Time that Article was written but their male Whale Shark was already attempting to do it. Does anyone know if it worked since then in some Aquarium or Zoo to breed them? If not I might change the Whale Shark to something else on the List. Or Frontier could add them but they'll only have a small Chance to actually breed when they are fully researched🤔
churaumi.okinawa

Breeding in Captivity

At the Aquarium, we don’t just keep and exhibit sea creatures - we also carry out research activities.
churaumi.okinawa churaumi.okinawa
You need to scroll a bit down on the Page. It has multiple Articles
Click to expand...
I've been reading articles since 2016 that whale sharks observed trying to mate but no news of any sort . Okinawa would be one of the very few I would expect some success
 

wanderoo

W
This is a nice format, even if it feels wishful to some! I tried to make a balanced pack with freshwater and saltwater aquatic species (no birds, although I could find 1-2 here to swap out for pelicans/Inca terns, because I'm assuming we get a separate bird expansion if we are getting this aquatic expansion). I'm not a fan of having the cetaceans in the game, so none of those either. I tried to select species that can either go together in new kinds of mixed areas, or augment the major aquatic species and aquatic-friendly build-sets we have now.

First, a few much-wanted mammals to cover the waters of the cold north:
1. Walrus
2. Sea otter

Then a heavy-hitter from the Caribbean/Florida along with something to accompany alligators, bullfrogs, etc. in the American South:
3. West Indian manatee
4. Alligator snapping turtle

For me, the freshwater USP of such a pack is the ability to make good flooded forests with dwarf caiman, giant otter, etc. so a good roster for South America:
5. Pirarucu arapaima
6. Red-bellied piranha
7. Ocellate river stingray
8. Electric eel

Without a whole range of cichlids, mixed freshwater African tanks would feel incomplete, so I'm just going with a generic entry for Lake Malawi cichlids (with various kinds being the variants) and then two more small exhibit type species to flesh out African regions with hippos, monitor, the existing exhibit species, etc:
9. Lake Malawi cichlid
10. Mbu puffer
11. West African lungfish

I'm biased in favor of India in general, and I'd really like to give the gharial some badass Gangetic giant tank mates so one scary-looking man-eater of legend and one big gharial exhibit staple from the zoo world:
12. Goonch catfish
13. Indian giant narrow-headed softshell turtle

I'm saving Southeast Asia for the saltwater side of things, but one much-needed exhibit animal for East Asia:
14. Chinese giant salamander

Finally, Australia gets one very heavy-duty brackish/coastal species (that's also found in saltwater in other regions of the world) to finish out my freshwater roster with a critically endangered bang:
15. Largetooth sawfish

On the non-mammalian saltwater side, starting with a couple of big and interesting colder-water species from across the northern Pacific, potentially in areas with sea lions, sea otters, etc (specifically with one for kelp forests):
16. Giant Pacific octopus
17. Japanese spider crab
18. Giant sea bass

Then a whole lot of love for potential tropical Indo-Pacific/Southeast Asian/Australian coral reef tanks:
19. Humphead wrasse
20. Tasseled wobbegong
21. Ocellaris clownfish
22. Moorish idol
23. Red lionfish
24. Sand tiger shark
25. Green sea turtle
26. Leafy sea dragon

And then a few for the Atlantic/Caribbean equivalent (there's some overlap with the previous section, incl. the shark and turtle, so the idea is to just swap out the smaller tank mates):
27. Rainbow parrotfish
28. Atlantic blue tang
29. Green moray eel
30. Cownose ray

NOTE: I might have got some of the potential mixed-species combinations wrong, but am also thinking in terms of sections, so hopefully there shouldn't be too much that doesn't work.
 
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UCKX

UCKX
Moray Eel
Bottlenose Dolphin
Sand Tiger Shark
Leopard Shark
Bull Shark
Whale Shark
Pacific Angel Shark
Yangzte Finless Porpoise
False Killer Whale
Beluga
Pacific Walrus
Ocean Sunfish
Lake Surgeon
Giant Oceanic Manta Ray
Giant Pacific Octopus
Vampire Squid
Palau Nautilus
American Lobster
Australian Red Claw Crayfish
Rainbow Trout
Pacific Electric Ray
Longspine Porcupine Fish
Red Lion Fish
Green Sea Turtle
Red King Crab
Leatherback Sea Turtle
Nile Softshell Turtle
Northern Sea Otter
Alligator Snapping Tortoise
Little Blue Penguin
Orca
 

jcp011c

jcp011c
Gonna just say that even though I'm ambivilent on if they make a separate Planet Aquarium game or add it into Planet Zoo, if they ever do go the Planet Zoo route with fully marine animals, I'm 100% in for it. It's not that I don't want to see these animals, I just don't care if it's in this game or a new one. Anyways on to my list!

Great White Shark - just going to make a comment on this one. I know it's extremely poor history in captivity. Don't care. On this one, notoriety far outweighs realistic captivity history.
Orca
Bottlenosed Dolphin
Whale Shark
Hammerhead Shark
Beluga Whale
Narwhal
Giant Oceanic Sunfish
Bluefish Tuna
Manta Ray
Electric Eel
Loggerback Sea Turtle
Southern Stingray
Swordfish
West Indian Manatee
Catfish (any species)
Moray eel
Giant Sawfish
Giant Pacific Octopus
Giant Squid
Great Barracuda
Tiger Shark
Sturgeon (any of the larger species)
Grouper (any species)
Bass (any species)
Northern Pike
Spotted Eagle Ray
Grey Whale
Lionfish (any species)
Clownfish (any species)
 

SanRazo618

SanRazo618
1. Green Sea Turtle
2. West Indian Manatee
3. Bottlenose Dolphin
4. Bull Shark
5. Beluga
6. Orca
7. Giant Pacific Octopus
8. Hammerhead (Whichever is most common in captivity)
9. Sea Otter
10. Walrus
11. Manta Ray
12. Whale Shark
13. Spotted Eagle Ray
14. Great Barracuda
15. Narwhal
16. Sandtiger Shark
17. Sawfish
18. Blue Marlin
19. Leopard Seal
20. Moray Eel
21. Japanese Spider Crab
22. Blacktip Reef Shark
23. Great White Shark
24. Giant Sunfish
25. Rockhopper Penguin
26. Pilot Whale
27. Lion's Mane Jelly
28. Elephant Seal
29. Bluefin Tuna
30. Leatherback Sea Turtle
 

UCKX

UCKX
UCKX said:
They are usually small ones, so they don't need that much pressure.
Click to expand...
But the only succesful care ever in captivity was at Monterey Bay Aquarium, and it does not have them anymore. I wanted to put a squid or similar to squid species so i put vampire squid since it is the only one i found.
 

Firestar97

Firestar97
UCKX said:
But the only succesful care ever in captivity was at Monterey Bay Aquarium, and it does not have them anymore. I wanted to put a squid or similar to squid species so i put vampire squid since it is the only one i found.
Click to expand...
How about the Humboldt Squid that's also on my List then? I think that one's even relatively common in Zoos
Edit: can't find anything about them in Zoos so maybe I'm misremembering🤔
 
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