Long Island Aquarium’s Coral Reef exhibit is the largest all-
living, closed-system Coral Reef display in the Western
hemisphere. Thirty feet long, the 20,000-gallon exhibit depicts
a natural reef ecosystem, including a reef wall, crest, terrace,
and back reef. Our live Coral Reef exhibit incorporates both
stony and soft corals, as well as anemones and coralline algae.
It also features approximately 800 types of fish and other
marine life, including tangs, wrasses, gobies, angelfish, sea
cucumbers, snails, crabs, and sea urchins. The size and
diversity of this living Coral Reef provides a unique view of
natural aquatic behaviors, as different types of fish play their
natural role in the complete, self-sustaining reef ecosystem.
Did you know? - Corals are actually living creatures. They grow
in colonies of individual animals called polyps. - Long Island
Aquarium’s Coral Reef began in the basement of Curator and Co-
Founder Joe Yaiullo, who still tends the reef during regular
dives.