Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center (formerly Atlantis Marine World) is a museum with an Atlantis

Atlantis

Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....

 theme which opened in 2000 on Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

 in Riverhead, New York

Riverhead (town), New York

The town of Riverhead is in Suffolk County, New York, on the north shore of Long Island. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census. The name signifies that the mouth of the Peconic River is in this town...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

One of its biggest attractions is a 20,000 gallon coral reef display tank, which the organizations website claims has the largest living-coral

Coral

Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

 display in the Western Hemisphere

Western Hemisphere

The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...

.

History

Construction on the aquarium originally called Atlantis Marine World began in 1999, and it opened June 15, 2000. It is located on a 3.2 acres (1.3 ha) parcel on Peconic River

Peconic River

The Peconic River is a river in Long Island's Suffolk County, New York in the United States. The river is located in the eastern end of Long Island...

.

The Town of Riverhead bought the land in 1995 with the hopes the Okeanos Foundation of Hampton Bays, New York

Hampton Bays, New York

Hampton Bays is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 12,236 at the 2000 census.Hampton Bays is in the Town of Southampton.-Geography:...

 would operate it as part of a rehabilitation project of the Peconic waterfront. However Okeanos was unable to raise funds. Space in the aquarium is provided free to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.

It originally cost $15 million, almost all of which was provided by developers James J. Bissett and Joseph M. Petrocelli. Bissett's family owns the Bissett Nursery in Holtsville, New York

Holtsville, New York

Holtsville is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 17,006 at the 2000 census....

. Bissett also owns the Treasure Cove Resort Marina next to the aquarium. Petrocelli's family owns Petrocelli Construction based in Ronkonkoma, New York

Ronkonkoma, New York

Ronkonkoma is a census-designated place on Long Island in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 20,029 at the 2000 census...

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On July 1, 2011, it changed its name to Long Island Aquarium and Exhibition Center after undergoing a $24 million expansion including a 28000 square feet (2,601.3 m²) Sea Star Grand Ballroom as well as construction of a 100-room Hyatt Hotel.

Exhibits

Indoor exhibits include Amazon Aviary (parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

s), Amazon Rainforest, Best Buddies (clownfish

Clownfish

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Twenty-eight species are recognized, one in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones...

 & anemone

Anemone

Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones...

), Coral Reef, Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish

Cuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....

, Electric Eel

Electric eel

The electric eel , is an electric fish, and the only species of the genus Electrophorus. It is capable of generating powerful electric shocks, of up to six hundred volts, which it uses for both hunting and self-defense. It is an apex predator in its South American range...

, Flounder

Flounder

The flounder is an ocean-dwelling flatfish species that is found in coastal lagoons and estuaries of the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Taxonomy:There are a number of geographical and taxonomical species to which flounder belong.*Western Atlantic...

 Find, Form & Function, Giant Pacific Octopus, Jellyfish

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...

, Lake Malawi Cichlid

Cichlid

Cichlids are fishes from the family Cichlidae in the order Perciformes. Cichlids are members of a group known as the Labroidei along with the wrasses , damselfish , and surfperches . This family is both large and diverse. At least 1,300 species have been scientifically described, making it one of...

s, Local Rocky Shores, Lost City of Atlantis Shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

 Exhibit, Megalodon

Megalodon

The megalodon and ὀδούς ) is an extinct species of shark that lived roughly from 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era .The taxonomic assignment of C...

 Display, Moray Eel

Moray eel

Moray eels are cosmopolitan eels of the family Muraenidae. The approximately 200 species in 15 genera are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water and a few, for example the freshwater moray can sometimes be found in freshwater...

s, Ocean Creatures of the World/Crab Villa, Piranha

Piranha

A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...

, Poseidon's Treasure Room, Puffer Fish, Ray Bay, Sand Shark

Sand shark

Sand sharks, also known as sand tiger sharks or ragged tooth sharks, are lamniform sharks of the family Odontaspididae . They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters, including on both sides of the Atlantic coast, but most notably in the Western Indian Ocean and in the Gulf of Maine...

 Lagoon, Schooling Fish, Seahorse

Seahorse

Seahorses compose the fish genus Hippocampus within the family Syngnathidae, in order Syngnathiformes. Syngnathidae also includes the pipefishes. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek hippos meaning "horse" and kampos meaning “sea monster”.There are nearly 50 species of seahorse...

s, Shipwreck/Artificial Reef, Tidal Marsh, and a touch tank.

Outdoor exhibits include Ancient Reptile

Reptile

Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...

 Ruins, Koi

Koi

or more specifically , are ornamental varieties of domesticated common carp that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens....

 Pond, Interactive Salt Marsh, Lost Temple of Atlantis, Otter Falls (North American river otters), Penguin Pavilion, Ray Bay, Sea Lion

Sea Lion

Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear-flaps, long fore-flippers, the ability to walk on all fours, and short thick hair. Together with the fur seal, they comprise the family Otariidae, or eared seals. There are six extant and one extinct species in five genera...

 Coliseum, Seals, and Shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

Reef Lagoon.

Interactive displays include Discovery Tower, Interactive Salt Marsh, Nemo's Family Fun Center, Poseidon's Peak & Playground, Ray Bay, Sea Lion Kiss, Submarine Simulator, Unearthing Atlantis, and the touch tank.