Fish up for adoption as Deep seeks new funding stream

These include the distinctive clownfish, pictured right, which will be easily recognisable to anyone who has seen the Finding Nemo films.

Other species available for adoption include the blue spotted ribbontail rays – one of the smaller stingray species that only grow up to 70cm in length – as well as seahorses, grey reef shark, manta rays, moray eels, blue poison arrow frogs, and zebra sharks.

Packages start from just £25 and include an adoption certificate, a detailed fact sheet about the adopted animal, a personalised animal photograph and a gift card for The Deep.

Curator Katy Duke said the scheme would also help support The Deep’s work outside the aquarium.

She said: “The adoption scheme is fantastic and allows you to help us with the upkeep of our animals. It is not just about feeding and cleaning, our days are dedicated to ensuring the best water quality and environment for our animals.

“Every display requires daily water testing, tweaks and modifications to the water filtration systems to ensure our animals are kept in the best of health. Providing the right habitat is also very important, we are constantly thinking of new ways to enrich the lives of our animals for example through tank design, tank theming, coming up with new feeding devices and even fish training.

“This money also helps us to fund our educational outreach work and to actively support our marine conservation programmes.”