Malmö Museum Aquarium

Malmö Museum Aquarium
This is a small to medium-sized aquarium, but with a surprisingly solid collection in both size and species diversity. Before visiting, I hadn’t heard much about it, apart from the fact that it’s one of very few places in Europe keeping shield-tailed agama (Xenagama taylori), which was one of my main targets.

Species-wise, the collection can be really strong. During my visit I saw peacock shrimpgoby (Cryptocentrus pavoninoides), rainbow characin (Rhoadsia altipinna), freshwater moray (Gymnothorax tile), Lake Victoria cichlid (Haplochromis thereuterion), and shield-tailed agama (Xenagama taylori). Some of these are only shown here worldwide, or in just a handful of other public collections. These are just a few highlights, there were more unusual and interesting species on display.

When entering, I recommend turning right and starting with the Swedish/European section. This area has several smaller tanks and terrariums, plus two larger aquariums with bigger fish, one of them built around parts of a shipwreck. Here you can find species like greater weever (Trachinus draco), European eelpout (Zoarces viviparus), common goby (Pomatoschistus microps), common dab (Limanda limanda), brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), and more.

After finishing the European area you reach the tropical zone. First there’s a door on the right leading into a small jungle-themed dead end, with two terrariums and two mixed land-and-water exhibits. The smaller one holds a few fish species including the rare freshwater moray (Gymnothorax tile). The larger mixed exhibit contains various fish, lizards, and turtles. This corner used to have birds as well, but they seem to be gone now.

Back through the door is the main tropical section, which makes up the largest part of the aquarium. This area contains a wide range of terrariums and aquariums, plus a nocturnal room with reptiles that are active at night.

Overall, this is a really good collection and one I definitely recommend if you’re visiting Sweden and happen to be in the area, especially from a species collector perspective. On top of the aquarium, they also have a nice taxidermy collection, which makes the visit even more worthwhile.