Zebrafish Sample Preparation and Shipping

Zebrafish and other laboratory fishes

• For submission of live fish for necropsy: Please ship live fish in clearly labeled heavy-duty plastic bladders or in doubled plastic bags, secured so that they will not leak and containing approximately 1/3 system water and 2/3 air. Fish should be shipped in insulated containers by overnight courier.
• For submission of fish for PCR only: Please submit frozen fish with sufficient ice packs to ensure that fish remain frozen during transit. Dry ice is not required.
• For submission of fish embryos or larvae for PCR: Please euthanize embryos and submit frozen on ice or cold packs. Dry ice is not required.
• For submission of fish for histopathology only: Please either submit fish fixed in 10% buffered formalin or another formalin-based fixative such as Dietrich’s, Davidson’s, or Bouin’s fixative (please indicate). To ensure proper fixation, open up the coelom (abdomen). This can be accomplished by making a lengthwise incision through the body wall or by removing a small piece of the body wall.  Fish cannot be pooled for histopathology. Samples may be shipped at ambient temperatures by overnight courier.
• For submission of fish for both histopathology and PCR from an individual fish: Please submit fish that have been frozen flat in liquid nitrogen or at -80°C. Please package and label each fish individually (e.g., by wrapping each fish flat in aluminum foil), and then place the individually packaged and labeled fish into a larger, rigid plastic container such as a large conical tube. Samples should be shipped on dry ice by overnight courier.

Environmental samples and feeds

• For submission of detritus (biofilm or sediment) for PCR: Please collect 1 mL of detritus into a tube and submit frozen with cold packs. Dry ice is not required. Collection of detritus is recommended over environmental swabs.
• For submission of fish feces for PCR: Please collect a pool of fish feces into a microcentrifuge tube and submit frozen with cold packs. Dry ice is not required.
• For submission of live feed cultures for PCR: Please submit at least 1 mL of live feed cultures (e.g., Artemia, rotifer, or Paramecium) frozen with cold packs. Dry ice is not required.

Samples for bacterial or fungal culture

• For submission of culture swabs: Please submit culture swabs collected from skin, gills, or lesioned organs in a culturette containing a suitable transport medium, such as Amies Medium without charcoal. Swabs should be shipped with cold packs in an insulated container by overnight courier.
• For identification of bacterial and fungal cultures by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: Please submit cultures on agar plates wrapped in Parafilm^®, or submit cultures on culture swabs with a suitable transport medium, such as Amies Medium without charcoal. Swabs and plates should be shipped with cold packs in an insulated container by overnight courier.
• For culture of water samples: Please submit 100 mL of water in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid that will not leak in transit. Water samples should be shipped with cold packs in an insulated container by overnight courier.