Fish from the Thames were settling into their new home this week as they took up residence in a new educational aquarium.

Staff from the Environment Agency (EA) and Thames Explorer Trust (TET) braved the unpredictable weather to pick up the catch of the day as they swam in the river around Kew Bridge on Wednesday.

The fish caught on the day were recorded by the Environment Agency before a number of them were moved to their new aquarium at the TET’s headquarters at the Pier House in Chiswick.

Tanya Houston, from the EA, said: “There are lots of fish in the Thames – about 125 different species use the river at any one point in their life cycle.

“The different types of fish include flounders, base, smelt and perch.

“We’re looking forward to using the fish in our survey. It’s something we do twice a year as a matter of course which allows us to monitor the river and its development.”

The aquarium will be made up of three separate tanks of brackish water – a mixture of fresh and salt water – and will be used to educate children on the variety of life that can be found in the Thames.

The first tank will be the home of invertibrates including, snails, crabs and shrimps, accompanied by a tank for the fish and a third tank for the eels.

TET officer Andy Hawkins said: “Eels are incredible carnivorous. They even eat each other so we can’t put them in with the fish.

“We’ve been working with a lot of interesting and clever people to build the aquarium.

“The grand opening ties in with the trust’s 21st birthday so we’re going to have a big party.”

The aquarium will be opened by comedian Dara O’Brien on Wednesday.

Have you been to have a look? Leave your comment below.