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The Sunfish Diet: Low in Carbs, High in Dried Shrimp

There are a lot of biggest things, but we think when the Osaka Aquarium calls itself one of the largest aquariums in the world, they are probably right. A visit to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan in Japan's second city starts with a long escalator ride to the top, followed by fascinating hours of slow descent through the winding passages above and below the water.

The structure contains over 11,000 tons of water, and there's a whole lot more than fish to see: Penguins, monkeys and birds round out the mix. A star exhibit at the deep end of the aquarium is the Ocean Sunfish, a flabby-looking fellow with strange expressions. The aquarium staff describe how the Sunfish eats:

he rushes to the feeder keeping his mouth small and round eyes wide open. He skillfully eats a mixture of ground shrimp and cuttlefish in small bite sizes. Once his feeding time is over, he looks disappointed.

Did it never occur to them that ground shrimp every day would make anyone a bit disappointed? If you drop by the Osaka Aquarium, give an extra big smile to the Sunfish, and try and slip a more interesting snack into his tank.

[Image via heavylift]