Animal health

Aquatic animal health

Animal care is the first line of defense. When factors come into play that negatively influence an animal's well-being, whether uncontrollable or human error, disease can become a concern. Depending on the size of the organization, different staff can be responsible for the following examples of animal health management:

  • Health examination: can be regularly scheduled or because of a specific concern; varies widely based on animal group but may include a physical exam, blood draw, fecal sample, gill clip, or skin scrape. These can determine if an animal is free of infections, or will hopefully diagnose a disease if there's a concern


  • Medical treatment: with fish collections, this may mean animals are temporary immersed in a medication by adding it to their aquatic environment; drugs typically target parasites (antiparasitic) or bacteria (antibiotic) causing problems


  • Surgical procedure: if an animal needs an operation, it can be anesthetized/sedated (yes, in the water!) and a procedure can be done to address a health concern; less likely an infection, but another disease (like cataracts!)


  • Necropsy: an animal autopsy; important for determining how an animal may have died if it's not known; even in large organizations, samples or whole organisms can also be sent to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory (or zoological pathology laboratory) for very detailed analysis (like this one, or this one, or this one)

 

Quarantine

Ideally, when animals first come to a facility that have been elsewhere they go through a period called quarantine. Quarantine involves all standard components of animal care, but animals are watched extremely closely for any signs of disease so they can be treated to prevent them from infecting established animals at the facility. This is also an important opportunity to work closely with animals prior to them being in a public space—especially picky eaters!

Quarantine takes place behind-the-scenes, and the tanks holding animals during quarantine will most likely be bare. Not all fishes and invertebrates necessarily need habitat components, such as rocks and reefs, sand, or kelp—it depends on the particular species and who they are being housed with. Keeping quarantine systems clean is the number one priority, and the absence of these components (especially sand or gravel) allows for better management of possible parasites.

This public aquarium's quarantine facility has round tanks of various sizes in order to quarantine many different species of fish.

Disease

Disruption of an animal's ideal environment, behavior, or nutrition can lead to stress. (Hmmm… why do those sound familiar? They're the foundation of animal care!) Stress makes it more likely that a harmful agent will overcome an animal's immune system—whether or not the animal is physically injured—and lead to infection. In fish, parasitic infection is typically more common than infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These are always present in the environment, but as long as fish are healthy and their immune systems are strong they are not affected—just like with us humans.

Animals react to medications differently, so treating fish systems for an infection is quite a complicated task. For example, sharks and rays are very sensitive to metals because it interferes with their electroreception , so copper sulfate—a common antiparasitic that can be used to treat many bony fishes—can't be used for them even in low concentrations. Rays are, however, tolerant of quick dips in freshwater or prolonged immersion in "less salty" water, which kills external parasites that are not tolerant to changes in salinity.

Expertise

I think that the coolest thing about fish and invertebrate healthcare is how much aquatic animal veterinary professionals have to know! During my first internship at a large public aquarium, I watched a 90-pound Atlantic cod undergo cataracts surgery, and a large sea raven receive a massage to release eggs that she was having difficulty laying.

Here are some links to fascinating posts discussing or showing great examples of animal healthcare:

 

Here's what veterinary facilities in a large public aquarium might look like. Follow an African penguin and get a tour of Monterey Bay Aquarium's animal care center, with a glimpse of a rescued sea otter undergoing surgery. And hear more from their veterinarian in a long interview found here.

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