An Evaluation of Fluorescent Elastomer for Marking Bluegills in Experimental Studies

Abstract

We evaluated subdermal injection of a fluorescent elastomer for marking bluegills Lepomis macrochirus in laboratory and pond studies. Marking did not affect the growth or survival of adult or juvenile bluegills. Marks were visible for at least 6 months. This technique is a reliable, relatively inexpensive marking method for the identification of individual fish in experimental studies. Costs of application range from US$0.01 to $0.03 per mark.

Retention of visible implant tags in small rockpool fishes

“…Visible implant alphanumeric (VIA) and visible implant fluorescent elastomer (VIFE) tags manufactured by Northwest Marine Technology are 2 types of visible implant tag that have been successfully used for marking small fishes in both freshwater (Blankenship & Tipping 1993, Dewey & Zigler 1996, Halls & Azim 1998 and marine environments (Forrester 1995, Willis & Babcock 1998, Malone et al 1999. However, the present study is apparently the first study that assessed the utility of visible implant tags for tagging intertidal fishes.…”

“…High retention, low mortality and ease of identification of elastomer tags clearly indicate their higher suitability for marking intertidal rockpool fishes than VIA tags, particularly for fish of small sizes (< 50 mm TL). Elastomer tags are useful for marking batches or cohorts of fish, and with the use of 2 elastomer colours 243 fish may be given unique markings (Dewey & Zigler 1996). Since rockpool fishes normally have low densities within the intertidal zone, the use of elastomer tags for the purpose of identifying individuals may be adequate.…”

Evaluation of visible fluorescent elastomer tags implanted in marine medaka, Oryzias dancena

“…3 The whole-body cortisol concentration variations of the tagged marine medaka, Oryzias dancena, during 48 h the tagging site, the rate of tag detection following the tagging site, and the survival rate of the tagged fish (Frederick, 1997;Dewey and Zigler, 1996;Park et al, 2013;Willis and Babcock, 1998). Statistically significant differences were found among tag colors and sites, with red and green tags being easier to detect and distinguish under visible and UV lights than yellow tags in marine medaka, O. dancena.…”

“…The tag size can easily be varied according to the requirements of the researcher and the size of the fish to be tagged. Thus far, the system has been used for the identification of groups or cohorts of juvenile reef fish (Frederick, 1997) and salmonids, but is also proving potentially effective in controlled laboratory studies of adult blue gills (Dewey and Zigler, 1996). As an externally visible but sub-dermally situated marking system, VIE tags are potentially able to eliminate many of the problems associated with other methods.…”

“…Tagging, weighing, measuring standard length, preparing fish for live shipment and transport, injecting vaccines and antibiotics, and collecting blood are causes to increasing stress (Dewey and Zigler, 1996). Stress responses can include physiological changes such as oxygen uptake and transfer, metabolic and hematological changes, mobilization of energy substrates, reallocation of energy away from growth and reproduction, and suppressive effects on immune functions (Schreck et al, 2001;Redding and Schreck, 1983).…”