A Christmas seal for just $5,000

The Shedd Aquarium is offering unique Christmas gifts: wet pets. ''Say it with fish,'' the brochure says.

The aquarium said Monday it will offer ''adoptions'' in which donors help pay for fish feeding. Prices are based on how the fish eat annually. Fees start at $ 5 to ''adopt'' a bluegill, neon tetra, French grunt, or similar small fish. Harbor seals go for $5,000; penguins, $1,000; beluga sturgeon, $600; and moray eels, $150. ''Wet pets make ideal gifts,'' said aquarium spokeswoman Becky Barefoot. ''They don't have to be walked on cold nights. . . . And they're tax deductible."