Comparative Evaluation of Four Presumptive Tests for Blood to Detect Epithelial Injury on Fish
Current methods of fish epithelial injury detection are limited to gross macroscopic examination that has a subjective bias as well as an inability to reliably quantify the degree of injury. Fluorescein, a presumptive test for blood, has been shown to have the capability to detect and quantify fish epithelial injury. However, there are several other presumptive tests for blood (Bluestar*, phenolphthalein, and HemastixH) that may have benefits over the use of fluorescein, particularly for field research on wild fish. This study investigated the capabilities of these four tests to detect and quantify a variety of injuries commonly encountered by fish (abrasion, cuts, fin frays, and punctures) using the freshwater bluegill Lepomis macrochirus as a model. Fluorescein was consistently found to be the most reliable (i.e., detected the highest proportion of true positive results and rarely detected false positive reactions) of the four presumptive tests for blood compared. Further testing was conducted to examine the reliability of fluorescein. By 24 h after an injury was inflicted, the injury was no longer detectable by fluorescein, and when fluorescein was applied to an injured fish, the fluorescein was no longer detectable 3 h after application. In a comparison of two common anaesthetics used in fisheries research, there was no significant difference in the proportion of injury detected when 3- aminobenzoic acid ethyl ester methanesulfate (tricaine) was used compared with a clove oil and ethanol (1:9) solution. In summary, fluorescein was the most reliable presumptive test for blood examined in this study for the detection and quantification of recent (hours) fish epithelial injury.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1158961
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-104909
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, 5(1):26-34, Journal Name: Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, 5(1):26-34
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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