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Species Turtles

Pig-nosed turtle

The only representative of its genus, its characteristics are unmistakable. This is the only turtle with a prominent snout that gives it its name. Its carapace, covered with a thin skin, is a uniform grey to dark brown on the upper part with a cream-coloured plastron. Its feet are flippers like marine turtles, better adapted to swimming. It is exclusively aquatic, living in rivers but able to make a few incursions into the ocean. Its omnivore diet consists in fish, crustaceans, snails and fruit. Its snout is adapted to searching for prey in the mud. During the dry season, the females lay their eggs in the upper part of river banks or beaches, after digging a nest. Only when the water level goes up again at the end of the dry season will the eggs hatch when the nest becomes covered with water. This species has become endangered due to the quality of its flesh, appreciated by local populations in Papua. The eggs are also widely consumed, and destroyed by the herds of buffalo that trample the river banks where the nests are located. Breeding programmes are underway, notably in Australia, but unfortunately the results have been fairly limited so far.

Species Cnidarians

Cauliflower coral

Pocillopora belongs to the order of Scleractinia, hard corals that play a vital role in the creation of coral reefs. The development of pocillopora is linked to the symbiosis it maintains with a micro-algae that colonises the oral gastrodermis of cnidaria. Through photosynthesis, the micro-algae provide the majority of nutritional elements and thus encourage the construction of the calcareous skeleton constituting the base of the reef. This species develops in a variety of shallow areas, between 1 and 15 metres deep. Breeding can take place through fragmentation or sexual reproduction. For several years now, the Tropical Aquarium has been assisting teams of researchers from the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in understanding the phenomena behind the development of this species…

Species Fish

Palette surgeonfish

One of the stars of the tanks . Already highly valued by aquariophiles, it became famous for its role as Dory in the cartoon "Finding Nemo". An American team managed to successfully breed them experimentally in 2017. The pattern of the black lines evolves with age: Among juveniles, the lower black line doesn’t connect with the top one. It then extends to form a blue olive shape completely encircled by black. There is no difference in shape and colour between male and female. The juveniles take refuge in coral colonies when danger presents itself. Like all surgeonfish, it has some very sharp scales at the base of its tail, which it uses to defend itself. The top-view photo shows them being deployed.

Species Fish

Tequila splitfin

In the wild, just a few dozen fish of this species survive in a single river. The introduction of carp and tilapia has decimated its numbers and could soon prove fatal to the species. The female is much larger than the male, who rarely measures more than 3 cm. She is also less colourful. This is a viviparous fish. In order to breed, the male mates with the female, by means of a modified anal fin.

Species Rays

Pearl freshwater stingray

Baby shower . Over thirty of these little stingrays have been born here, illustrating the Tropical Aquarium’s conservation mission. And it continues: births take place every 4 months or so. This species of freshwater stingray was only recently described. It is very similar to Potamotrygon leopoldi and Potamotrygon motoro , and can crossbreed with those species. The population at the Tropical Aquarium carries the albinism allele. Occasionally, albino stingrays are born at the Aquarium.

Species Dipneusts

South American lungfish (dipnoi)

The term “dipnoi” means “double breathing system”, implying pulmonary and branchial. These animals are Sarcopterygii, a monophyletic group of bony vertebrates that also includes the Coelacanths and tetrapods. The South American lungfish ( Lepidosiren paradoxa - Lepidosirenidae ) is the only representative of the group in South America (Amazon Basin and the rivers of the Paraná in Brazil). It prefers stagnant water. It is capable of surviving periods of drought by making a burrow in the mud. Through limiting its metabolism, it can get through this specific period by using two functional lungs (estivation).   Breeding takes place during the rainy season. The adults make a nest in which the male takes care of the larvae. These have external gills (just like triton or salamander larvae) that gradually regress. To facilitate oxygenation of the nest and the young, the pelvic fins become vascularised to play the role of “reverse” gills, producing oxygen and receiving carbon dioxide. It will take around 7 weeks for the juveniles to switch from breathing through their gills to obligatory pulmonary respiration.

Article

France and its migration history, from the 17th century to the present day

Since the Middle Ages, millions of men and women have travelled through, passed through, lived in or sought refuge on French soil, shaping the history of France. This film traces, in eight chapters, the major stages of these migrations: arrivals, departures, exiles and settling down. It looks back at the main migratory movements, the changing attitudes towards migrants, the political and social contexts, and the forms of resistance and activism that have marked this history.

Article

Paris-London. Music Migrations (1962-1989) - mobile exhibition

The mobile exhibition Paris-London. Music Migrations is drawn from the temporary exhibition held at the Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration in 2019. It emphasizes musical movements as spaces of protest over three decades that saw the settlement in France and Great Britain of several hundred thousand men and women coming from the colonies and former colonies of these two countries.