The Laboratory Zebrafish

This guide covers all aspects pertaining to the use of zebrafish including their basic biology, humane care and management, husbandry, life support systems, regulatory compliance, technical procedures, veterinary care, and water quality management. The zebrafish is now a mainstream model animal employed by scientists to study everything from stem cells to the basis of behavioral changes induced by drug addiction. However, there are few accepted and established standards for husbandry, management, and care for the fish in laboratory settings and even fewer comprehensive and constantly reliable resources. To this end, the goal of this handbook is to provide managers, veterinarians, investigators, technicians, and regulatory personnel with a concise yet thorough reference on zebrafish biology, care, husbandry, and management. The new edition includes more figures, tables and bullet points, a wealth of new full-color images, major updates on health and welfare (including colony health surveillance and viruses), and a complete overhaul of the compliance section to address more international concerns.

Carole Wilson, MIAT, RanTech. Carole has both husbandry qualifications, specifically addressing the concerns of welfare of animals used in scientific research, as well as as a BSc in molecular genetics. She headed up The UCL Fish Facility for twenty-three years. During this time, she oversaw the expansion of the facility several times and the introduction of a database, cryopreservation program, health monitoring systems and breeding programs, amongst other things. Prior to this she worked with the technical teams at NIRM (National Institute of Medical Research), where she was involved in mouse and rat transgenic and cryopreservation programs.

David Chu, DVM, DACLAM, completed his formal animal science as well as veterinary medical education at the University of California (Davis) and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine at the University of California (Los Angeles). He is currently a veterinarian at Stanford University providing aquatic animal health oversight as well as general aquatic animal program design and implementation.