The Alexandria Branch of the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (NIOF) is one of the oldest and most important research institutions in Egypt and may be in the Middle East and the Arab region as a whole. It has been specifically established, as a one of the four branches of the NIOF, for scientific research in the field of Marine Sciences and Fisheries. Its policy is carried out through intensive research programs in the field of applied research, and in all specialties of marine science, fisheries, aquaculture and oceanography. Moreover, it provides a variety of professional opportunities and services stemming from the field of scientific and research experiences in the Institute. This is achieved by applying the Institute's strategy over the last century and the next years, which mainly depends on finding solutions to the problems of scientific, environmental, economic and social importance, whether on the regional or international level, taking into consideration the global perspective, as well as the global challenges facing the beach and aquatic environments in the late 21st century.
Alexandria Aquarium
The Aquarium plays an important role in spreading culture, knowledge and useful information for interested and visiting students from schools and universities, and even tourists from various countries of the world. The Aquarium exhibition is located in the Al-Anfoushi neighborhood in Alexandria, next to the famous Qaitbay Citadel, and it contains fish and marine creatures with beautiful and wonderful shapes and is visited by a large number of tourists everywhere, and it was established in 1930. The aquarium contains two exhibition halls, each of them contains a large number of basins of different sizes, and their total number is 32 different sized ponds whose size is determined by the type, size, and number of fish and marine creatures that live in them, taking into account the provision of the appropriate environment for those fish. There are also many types of fish that differ in their original habitat and the environmental conditions in which they live, as there is a large group of fish from the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, as well as fresh water, as well as some fish that live outside the regional waters, and besides the basins, scientific information on each type of fish is available in terms of Its scientific name, the types of food it feeds on, and where it is found. Below is a presentation of some of the different fish included in the exhibition and some available information about them.
Marine turtle
They are found in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and they spend most of their lives in the seas feeding on seaweeds and jellyfish go out to the beach to lay eggs and bury them in the sand, and after hatching, the young ones return to the sea on their own again.
Octopus
It is one of the marine animals that is classified within the Mollusk Division and is characterized by its body containing three hearts, and the octopus has eight arms covered from the inside by strong pipettes that it relies on in catching prey, and the China Sea and the Mediterranean are considered its home, and it is also found on the coasts of Hawaii and North America.
