Aqua World Ibaraki Oarai Aquarium is exhibiting a rare fish that has been recorded for the first time in Ibaraki Prefecture,"Bonefish"The exhibition has begun.

　On September 30th, 2025, we received a call from a fishery official in Hitachi City, who regularly assists us in acquiring exhibited creatures, saying, "We've caught a fish we've never seen before." We rushed over to check, but even our zookeepers, with 30 years of experience, were unable to definitively identify the species, so we suspected it might be a type of bone sardine, a rare fish, and so we brought it to our aquarium as is. After further identification, we determined that it was a bone sardine, the first time it had been caught in Ibaraki Prefecture.

　The bone sardine brought in this time is 50cm long, and because it was caught using a fixed net, it had many wounds when it was first brought in, but it gradually became accustomed to its new environment, and as its wounds healed, it began to eat food, so it was put on display. This is the first time that bone sardines have been exhibited at the aquarium.

　Bone sardines are a fish that belong to the Bonefish family, and although their name includes the word "sardine," they are in a completely different category from the commonly known sardines such as Japanese pilchards and anchovies. They are more closely related to eels, with a significantly different body shape. In Japan, they are found mainly in warm waters such as southern Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands, where they live in mangroves, but are extremely rare in Honshu, and although they have been recorded as being caught in Iwate Prefecture in 2020, this is the first time they have been caught in Ibaraki Prefecture. With their large scales and shining silvery white bodies, they bear no resemblance to eels or sardines, and their face is more similar to the freshwater fish Nigoi.

　It is unclear why this species, which normally lives in mangroves in warm seas, ended up in the completely different environment of the waters of Ibaraki Prefecture, but through this rare fish that is not normally seen in the waters of Ibaraki, you can experience the diverse world of living creatures.

*Exhibition may be canceled depending on the condition of the creatures.Please note.