Subterranean Fishes of the World

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2019

AIM 2019

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Health monitoring is a crucial aspect of the management of any research animal house. Repeatability of every experiment, as immunity, genetics or behavior is directly related to the health of animals studied. RESAMA (Réseau d’Études Sanitaires des Animaux Modèles Aquatiques) is a network strong of 60 academic and private partners acting in France since the end of 2012. The network aims to increase awareness of animal caretakers and researchers on health management issues in facilities holding aquatic model species (zebrafish, African clawed frog, medaka, Mexican tetra …). In order to do so, each partner research-facility is visited at least once. The visiting team is composed of one veterinarian and one zootechnician specialized in aquatic species. The visit provides a health monitoring assessment of the facility which includes fish sampling for parasitology, histopathology, bacteriology, molecular biology and water analysis. Husbandry practices are also reviewed through an interview of the caretakers about the management of the facility. The network also provides advices or suggests improvements to fish facility management in respect with animal welfare and 3R rules. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide a network-wide picture of health issues in aquatic facilities. In parallel, the rearing practice assessment will ultimately allow us to establish rational relationship between handling practices and animal health in aquatic facilities. Organization of the network will evolve during 2019 to expand the field of study and services (Customized training, international facilities visits). The study is drawn from an analysis of 43 visited facilities, mostly French but also including 5 international facilities. 17 different aquatics species were studied: 13 fish and 3 amphibian species. We sampled 1781 fish from 31 facilities and 127 amphibians from 14 facilities, resulting in 2310 individual tests on fish and 577 on amphibians. Focusing on Astyanax mexicanus, we have visited 2 French facilities. We sampled 54 individuals and done 80 analyses including 26 Surface fish (41 analyses), 16 Cavefish (17 analyses, and 4 ongoing) and 7 hybrids (13 analyses). 5 fish were old samples with no information about their genotype (5 analyses). Among these 54 fish, 20 fish were targeted and 34 randomly sampled. Very few data exist on Astyanax mexicanus pathologies, as much in captivity as in the wild. Gill monogen worms are known to be present in the wild as well as in research facilities but their true impact needs to be evaluated. We now aim to extend the study by comparing parasites and pathogens found in the wild with those encountered in research facilities. To do so, we are also recruiting more facilities housing Astyanax to expand the study. Work supported by UMS AMAGEN, DECA group, Vetofish and the program “Investissement d’avenir” “TEFOR” bearing the reference ANR-II-INSB-0014 (2012-2019). Bibliography : RESAMA: A Network for Monitoring Health and Husbandry Practices in Aquatic Research Facilities. Legendre L, Guillet B, Leguay E, Meunier E, Labrut S, Keck N, Bardotti M, Michelet L, Sohm F. Zebrafish. 2016 Jul;13 Suppl 1:S56-65. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2015.1199. Epub 2016 May 18.

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Astyanax Interrnational Meeting