The Trieste marine aquarium is located on the city's waterfront in the building of the former Central fish market. The fish pond building was erected in 1913 and on the left side there is a “water tower”, which originally contained sea water. The aquarium was born in 1933 and consists of 25 tanks that reconstruct the different marine environments. Of the two exhibition floors, the lower one houses the aquariums, while the upper one has a vivarium, with terrariums and a central tank in which the biotope of the karst ponds has been recreated. The fauna housed at the Civico Aquario Marino is made up of marine species coming mainly from the Gulf of Trieste. The aquarium is home to mainly Adriatic species such as molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans, annelids and coelenterates. On the ground floor the large pool houses some sharks and rays from South Africa. the first floor of the aquarium is occupied by the vivarium where numerous species of amphibians, freshwater fish and reptiles are housed. A large terrarium with a karst pond welcomes common toads, howlers and green frogs.