Evaluation of visible implant elastomer as a method for tagging small European eels

Imbert, Hélène; Beaulaton, Laurent; Rigaud, Christian; Élie, Pierre

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01617.x

Cited by 51 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…VIE tags are clearly visible through the skin of the fish by observers in the field so it was not necessary to recapture individuals to determine their identity. VIE tags do not have adverse effects on other fishes (Beukers et al 1995, Imbert et al 2007, Simon 2007, have been used to tag fish as small as 8 mm (Frederick 1997), and a preliminary study confirmed no tag-induced mortality of 20 tagged T. hardwicke held in aquaria for 72 h. Tagging and handling effects were therefore assumed negligible. After tagging, fish were returned to aerated aquaria for 12 h before being measuring to the nearest 0.1 mm SL.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of larger heterospecifics and structural refuge on the survival of a coral reef fish, Thalassoma hardwicke

Geange¹

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Structural refuge and competition can influence the survival of coral reef fishes; however, the effect of structural refuge on the outcome of competition remains unclear. In Moorea, French Polynesia, surveys were used to quantify habitat association for juvenile Thalassoma hardwicke and 7 sympatric labroid species. Having identified the 3 species most similar to focal T. hardwicke in habitat association, a field assay was used to determine if the presence of larger individuals of these species adversely affected the survival of focal individuals. Finally, a field experiment was used to test how competition with larger residents and structural refuge interact to influence survival of transplanted T. hardwicke. Surveys demonstrated that Gomphosus varius, Pseudocheilinus hexataenia, and T. quinquevittatum were most similar to T. hardwicke in habitat association. In the field assay, the presence of T. quinquevittatum had the greatest negative effect on survival of T. hardwicke. The field experiment revealed that competition with T. quinquevittatum and structural refuge both altered T. hardwicke survival, although their effects were not interactive. Survival of T. hardwicke was 2.3 times greater in treatments without T. quinquevittatum relative to those with T. quinquevittatum, and 2.8 times greater in treatments with structural refuge relative to those without structural refuge. The additive effect may have occurred via the establishment of social dominance hierarchies between transplanted T. hardwicke and resident T. quinquevittatum independently of structural refuge, suggesting that it is important to account for interactions occurring independently of resources when examining resource competition. KEY WORDS: Habitat complexity · Competition · Structural refuge · Reef fish · LabroidResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher Mar Ecol Prog Ser 407: 197-207, 2010 heterogeneity in the provisioning of structural complexity and refuges (or other habitat features) may drive variability in the strength of competition and predation.Competitive interactions have previously been shown to play a fundamental role in coral reef community dynamics, e.g. between algae and coral (McCook et al. 2001, Jompa & McCook 2003, sponges and coral (Hill 1998, Lopez-Victoria et al. 2006), vermetid gastropods (Gagern et al. 2008) and fishes (Holbrook & Schmitt 2002, Forrester & Steele 2004, Bonin et al. 2009). Coral reefs consist of structurally diverse microhabitats, with the availability of structural refuges within these microhabitats capable of determining the magnitude of competitive interactions. Bonin et al. (2009) demonstrated that the complexity of structural refuges and interspecific competition both influenced early post-settlement survival of a damselfish, with survival in the presence of competitors greatest on intricately-structured habitats. Alternatively, Almany (2004a) found that increasing the complexity of structural refuges increased the abundance of adults in the presence o...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of larger heterospecifics and structural refuge on the survival of a coral reef fish, Thalassoma hardwicke

Geange¹

2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…Subcutaneous ink or acrylic paint injection has also been successful for long-lasting readability in aquatic animals (Herbinger et al, 1990), as have visible implant (VI) elastomer or alphanumeric tags (NMT, WA, USA), which have been reported to be successfully used with small aquatic animals [e.g. shrimp (Brown et al, 2003;Dinh et al, 2012;Imbert et al, 2007;Jensen et al, 2008;Pillai et al, 2009)]. In our experience, however, none of these tagging methods were successful with zebrafish: paint tags faded away and VI tags were lost after 2-3weeks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electronic individual identification of zebrafish using radio frequency identification (RFID) microtags

Cousin

Daouk

Péan

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYAlthough individual electronic tagging using passive integrated acoustic (PIT) tags is established, it is mainly for fish >60mm in length and is unsuitable for fish of <30mm, like zebrafish. We used radio frequency identification (RFID) microtags (1mm in diameter and 6mm in length, with a mass of ~10mg) to individually identify juvenile zebrafish (length 16-42mm, mass 138-776mg) for the first time, and studied the effects of intracoelomic implantation on fish survival and microtag loss, growth, spawning and exploratory behaviour. After 5.5months, both high survival (82%) and low microtag loss (11%) were achieved. The smallest surviving fish weighed 178mg, and success in microtag reading was 73% for the size class 350-450mg (26mm). Greater success was achieved when fish were larger at the time of tagging but no negative effects on growth were observed for any size class and some tagged fish spawned. No significant differences in behavioural responses could be detected between tagged fish and untagged controls after 2months. Overall, the results suggest that the tagging method is highly suitable for fish as small as zebrafish juveniles. We think this method will provide significant advances for researchers of the ever-growing fish model community and more generally for all small-fish users. Tagging is essential when one needs to identify fish (e.g. particular genotypes with no external cue), to run longitudinal monitoring of individual biological traits (e.g. growth) or to repeat assays with the same individual at discrete points in time (e.g. behaviour studies). Such a method will find applications in physiology, genetics, behaviour and (eco)toxicology fields. Supplementary material available online at

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“…A VIE tag consists of an elastomer material with a large panel of color possibilities in the visible spectrum; it is stable in time and is injected in a transparent body area to allow for external individual identification. Tag visibility depends on pigments of the skin and the depth of the injection (personal observation; Imbert, Beaulaton, Rigaud, & Elie, 2007). Some VIE colors are fluorescent to ultraviolet (UV) light (Bonneau, Thurow, & Scarnecchia, 1995;Buckley, West, & Doty, 1994;Frederic, 1997;Uglem, Noess, Farestveit, & Jorstad, 1996;Wood, & Martin-Smith, 2004), and such colors were used here.…”

Section: −1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to several studies on a large spectrum of fish, crustacean, reptilian, and amphibian species, VIE tags have no effect on mortality and growth (e.g., Buchan, Sun, & Wagner, 2005;Catalano, Chipps, Bouchard, & Wahl, 2001;Claverie & Smith, 2007;Davis, Young-Williams, Hines, & Zmora, 2004;Imbert et al, 2007;Malone, Forrester, & Steele, 1999;Regester & Woosley, 2005). According to Imbert et al, VIE tags do not affect the displacement behavior of tagged glass eels.…”

Section: −1mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Video tracking in the extreme: A new possibility for tracking nocturnal underwater transparent animals with fluorescent elastomer tags

et al. 2011

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Initially developed so that an individual could be recognized in mark-recapture studies of aquatic animals, fluorescent visible implant elastomer (VIE) tags are used here for a new application in ethometry: the study of the behavior of transparent animals in dim light or in darkness using automatic tracking technology. The application and validation of this multitracking method is tested in the context of research on the estuarine migratory behavior of the glass eel (Anguilla anguilla), a crucial point to better understand the dynamics of this endangered species. The method makes it possible to measure the activity (notably the distance and speed) of four individuals as a function of tidal and nycthemeral rhythms in the same flume (a circular aquarium simulating river or estuarine conditions) across a wide time scale (from seconds to weeks).

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Evaluation of visible implant elastomer as a method for tagging small European eels

Cited by 51 publications

References 17 publications

Effects of larger heterospecifics and structural refuge on the survival of a coral reef fish, Thalassoma hardwicke

Effects of larger heterospecifics and structural refuge on the survival of a coral reef fish, Thalassoma hardwicke

Electronic individual identification of zebrafish using radio frequency identification (RFID) microtags

Video tracking in the extreme: A new possibility for tracking nocturnal underwater transparent animals with fluorescent elastomer tags

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