Taraporewala Aquarium in Mumbai is the oldest aquarium of India and among the most visited attractions of Mumbai. Local people come to this place along with their family, and many kids also visit this aquarium during school excursions.

It has over 100 species of fish and other aquatic animals like sharks, seahorses and turtles. The collection consists of freshwater, marine and tropical fishes brought from around the world. Visitors enter the gallery through a glass tunnel around which fishes and water plants are on display.

History of Taraporewala Aquarium

Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, inaugurated Taraporewala Aquarium Mumbai in 1951. The cost of building this aquatic exhibition was about ₹8,00,000, of which ₹2,00,000 came from a Parsi philanthropist D. B. Taraporewala. So, the officials named this aquarium after him.

The aquarium hosts 2,000 fish across over 400 species. Fish from overseas were introduced at the new aquarium. The number of new varieties of 70 marine fish included Helicopter, Arowana, Grouper, yellow-striped tang, bluespotted stingray, sea stars, clownfish, hark, triggerfish, Moorish idol,[3] Azure Damsel, Blueline Demoiselle, Purple Firefish, Cloudy Damsel, Copperband Butterflyfish, Schooling Bannerfish, Raccoon Butterflyfish, White Tail Trigger, Clown Triggerfish and Blue Ribbon Eel. The 40 new varieties of freshwater fish include Red Devil, Jaguar, Electric Blue, Jack Dempsey, Frontosa and Catfish. These fishes will be housed in larger tanks than before with imported flexi glass for better visibility.[6] The aquarium continues to support sharks, turtles, rays, moray eels, sea turtles, small starfish and stingrays.

Timings: Open for visitors from 10:00 AM to 20:00 PM (weekends) and 10:30 AM to 20:00 PM (weekdays) for Ground Floor only. Monday closed.