The sharks were on display, but it was a bloodletting outside the tank that stunned the crowd at the New York Aquarium.
A Queens grandmother and a Brooklyn mom got into a knock-down, drag-out rumble in front of the shark exhibit at the Coney Island attraction, whaling on each other as dozens of horrified kids watched, sources said yesterday.
The kids with each woman got knocked down in the scuffle, witnesses said.
“That’s by far the craziest thing I’ve ever seen here,” said one employee.
Tempers flared after Rodine James’ child bumped into Rosa Melendez’s grandchild at 4:32 p.m. Wednesday at the aquarium.
Melendez, 51, of Astoria, screamed at James’ kid to watch out, which led James to yell back, sources said.
Eventually, James, 32, of East Flatbush, grabbed her kid and walked away, but Melendez followed, continuing to berate her, the sources said.
When they got to the shark exhibit, Melendez struck James across the face, knocking her down, and then pummeled her, shattering her sunglasses, witnesses said.
“I heard all this commotion behind me and turned around to see two women rolling on the ground,” said an employee at a vending stand nearby.
“The younger woman looked like she’d been scratched up pretty badly.”
Another employee said the two kids got knocked down in the melee, which was broken up only when aquarium workers pulled the two women apart.
Not satisfied, Melendez grabbed James’ camera from her purse and hurled it to the ground, breaking it, the sources said.
“It was very sad, because both little kids got hurt when they got knocked down in the scuffle,” the employee said.
Police were called and Melendez was arrested, despite her claims she was an innocent victim.
James was taken to Coney Island Hospital with bruises and cuts to her face and chest and bleeding around her eye.
Melendez was awaiting arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court late yesterday.
jamie.schram@nypost.com