Every angler knows the feeling of naming a favorite fishing hole or a lucky lure.

Now, down on the Texas coast, they’re asking folks to name something a little bigger.

At Sea Center Texas, two well-known residents, a massive Queensland grouper and a slippery green moray eel, are waiting for names. And the folks who walk through the doors each day are being invited to help decide what those names will be.

It’s a simple idea, but one that has a way of pulling people a little closer to the fish themselves.

Visitors can submit name suggestions through March 25, either in person at the visitor center on Medical Drive or online through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website. From there, staff and volunteers will narrow the entries down to five finalists for each fish. Those names will go to a public vote in April, with the winners announced during a special event in May.

The first fish up for naming is no ordinary aquarium resident.

The Queensland grouper, tipping the scales at around 50 pounds, moved into its current home in the summer of 2008. Native to Australian waters, it has spent most of its life in captivity after being donated to the facility back in 1998 when its previous owners ran out of room.

Its exact age is uncertain, though it’s believed to be at least 13 years old.

And while it’s an impressive fish now, it still swims in the shadow of its predecessor, a legendary grouper named Gordon. Gordon lived at Sea Center Texas until his death in 2008, reaching an astonishing weight of more than 320 pounds and an age of 23 years.

Whether this new resident will ever grow to that size remains to be seen. Even the biologists aren’t certain of its gender, much less its ceiling.

The second candidate for a name is a fish that didn’t arrive by aquarium trade, but by rod and reel.

Back in 1998, Houston angler George Flores caught a green moray eel and brought it to Sea Center Texas to have it certified as a state record. Instead of heading home with a mount, the eel stayed.

Since then, it’s grown well beyond its original 48 inches and 7.7 pounds. Today, it stretches past six feet, a quiet, watchful presence in the tank.

Both fish share a sprawling 50,000-gallon Gulf exhibit with a cast of coastal regulars, crevalle jack, redfish, Atlantic spadefish, gray snapper, and red snapper. It’s a living slice of Gulf water, right there behind the glass.

If you time it right, you can see it all come alive.

Feeding time, held at 10:30 a.m. each Wednesday and Friday, draws the fish out of hiding, especially that elusive moray, which doesn’t always make itself easy to find.

Beyond the main exhibit, the visitor center offers a full lineup of aquatic life, from energetic diamondback terrapins that greet visitors at the glass, to laid-back snook and curious porcupine puffers that seem to study you as much as you study them.

There’s more to the place than just tanks, too.

Guided hatchery tours, wetland walks, and a steady schedule of fishing programs and special events give visitors a closer look at how Texas manages and protects its coastal fisheries.

But for now, the spotlight belongs to two unnamed residents.

A grouper with a big future ahead of it.

And an eel that’s already lived quite a story.

All that’s missing is the right name.

If you’ve ever felt the urge to name something worth remembering, this might be your chance.