Educational aquarium raises awareness of native fish, creek

(AP) — Tucked against a wall in a small recessed sitting area on the third floor of the University of North Alabama Science and Technology building is a small piece of Cypress Creek, the winding offshoot of the Tennessee River.

Jeff Ray, assistant professor in the biology department, said before the department made the move across Pine Street from Floyd Hall to the new building, that same aquarium was filled with non-native species of fish.

A pump creates movement in the water that mimics the flow of the creek, and large rocks fill the bottom of the aquarium to give the fish a hideout.

Mitchell Lovell, a marine biology major, said having the aquarium is an asset to students learning about the fish.

School groups from Kilby Laboratory School have visited the aquarium, and Ray and his students have done presentations about fish, amphibians and reptiles collected from Cypress Creek.