Maritime Aquarium Announces Passing Of Rare Black Dragon

NORWALK, CT – The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk announced Wednesday the death of its Asian water monitor lizard, more commonly known as the black dragon. According to a press release, the 7-foot lizard died overnight Monday.

Officials said the cause of death is unknown and a necropsy will be performed at the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Connecticut.

"We’re always saddened by the death of any animal at the aquarium, but the black dragon was appreciated as a very special creature by staff as well as by our guests," the aquarium’s director of Animal Husbandry Barrett Christie said in a release.

According to Christie, although the 6-year-old lizard had shown a loss of appetite over the last several days and was receiving veterinary care, the death was unexpected.

The black dragon was rare because it had a melanistic gene that made the animal nearly solid black. Normally, Asian water monitor lizards are brownish-dark gray with small yellow dots underneath, officials said.

The black dragon had been a featured animal at the Maritime Aquarium, first in the "Dragons: Real or Myth" exhibit that opened in February 2015. The animal then moved into the "Just Add Water" exhibit that debuted in August.