The Aquarium in Livorno is a paradise for all those who love the underwater world, located on Livorno's waterfront opposite the Cetacean Sanctuary, which also includes this stretch of sea.
The itinerary starts with a reconstruction of the marine environments and then moves on to the reptile house dedicated to insects, amphibians and reptiles and ends with a visit to the panoramic terrace from which there is an extraordinary view of the coastline.
The visit begins with the room dedicated to Diacinto Cestoni; it is a real journey to discover the biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea, its colors and its varied life forms admired with two groups of themed exhibition tanks: "The Crustaceans of the Mediterranean" and "The Colors of the Mediterranean".
Don’t miss the tactile tank, where you can get up close and personal with various rays and touch the water where they swim; or the Aquarium’s two main stars, turtles Ari and Cuba, who you’ll find swimming in the Indo-Pacific tank with blacktip reef sharks, zebra sharks and two examples of Napoleon fish, as well as a tunnel where you can admire some fantastic examples of common eagle rays (myliobatis aquila).
Following the experience with rays is a tank entirely dedicated to jellyfish, fascinating and sinuous animals that are carried by the current inside two porthole-shaped tanks. This space is intended to promote a project-carried out by many aquariums around the world-to raise public awareness of plastic: in fact, jellyfish, being planktonic animals, are transported by currents in exactly the same way as plastic waste with which they can be confused; every year many sea turtles incur this error and this is precisely why the aquarium promotes a more conscious and ecological management of this material.
In the Caribbean Sea room, you can discover varieties including the green moray eel, the famous surgeon fish, as well as the marvelous corals where the fire angel fish swims.
The journey ends on the second floor with a visit to an area dedicated to insects, amphibians and reptiles. You’ll find the chameleon, iguana, centipede, stick insect, poison dart frog and Surinam horned frog.
In 2019 was inaugurated a tank dedicated to kelp, an Anglo-Saxon term for several species of Macroalgae that can grow several meters in height to form a veritable underwater forest: each forest can consist of several algal species and is home to an incredible amount of animal species that are adapted to the various types of habitats present. These environments, in nature, are distributed mainly in the temperate and polar zones of the oceans, although there is one near the tropical coast of Ecuador.
The Aquarium, located in the setting of the beautiful Terrazza Mascagni, is a must-see destination for a vacation in Livorno if you're travelling with children!
