The Aquarium Welcomes a Wolf-Eel

As summer fades away – along with the tourists that season brings – Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is exhibiting a new local species: the wolf-eel, Anarrhichthys ocellatus.  At nearly three-feet long, the juvenile wolf-eel is neither wolf nor eel, but a member of the wolffish family (named for their large front teeth) and will grow to be about seven feet long. The eel-shaped, grayish colored wolf-eel is patterned with gorgeous dark spots and can be found peering out of a rocky outcropping in the Aquarium’s Kelp Forest Exhibit. 

The Aquarium typically closes for maintenance for most of September, but this year the facility will remain open throughout the month for regular hours: 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday with the exception of Tuesday, Sept. 11, when the Aquarium will be closed for Coastal Cleanup Education Day. The Aquarium is open during weekends from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m.  Plan your visit to see the wolf-eel at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.