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ADVANCED TECHNIQUES FOR QUARANTINING BLUE SPOTTED STINGRAYS,
Taeniura lymma
AND Dasyatis kuhlii
Heather Thomas, Aquarist
John G. Shedd Aquarium, 1200 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605
Abstract
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Blue-spotted stingrays,
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[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]D. kuhlii [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]and [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]T. lymma, [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]are some of the most common stingrays found throughout the Indo-Pacific (Hennemann, 255 & 260). However, captive animals are seldom seen in aquaria, and attempts to keep these stingrays alive in captivity have been met with limited success (Michael, 158; Firchau, 16). Because of this issue, the Shedd Aquarium has worked toward getting these animals through their most critical periods—post shipment and quarantine. For the most part, the animals arrive emaciated and, prior to our procedure, weight loss ensues quickly. Staff realized that the key to raising these animals in captivity successfully is to bring them past the point of emaciation and thinness by getting them to aggressively eat on their own. Together with the veterinarian staff, quarantine aquarists set up a rigorous schedule of assist feeds and taking weights for the stingrays. Since this new technique has been implemented, the aquarium has suffered no losses of [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]D. kuhlii [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]and [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]T. lymma [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]due to anorexia. Most of the animals are on exhibit and eating well. Their food intake is still monitored very carefully and they receive biannual physicals.
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Introduction
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]The animals were acquired in March of 2003 for a stingray pool in the new Wild Reef exhibit at the Shedd. They were purchased from numerous sources including wholesalers and one retail store. All of the animals were quarantined in four 230-gallon circular vats on a 1200-gallon system. The salinity was between 32-34 parts per thousand and the temperature was between 77-78 degrees Fahrenheit.
Drum and Croaker 36: (2005) 19
The conditions of the incoming animals were similar: they were all in a thin or emaciated state. Their incoming weights ranged from 79-942g and on rare occasions they would eat ghost shrimp. All of the animals lost weight when they went through quarantine. Traditionally, they died within 1-21 days of arrival at the Shedd.
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Materials and Methods
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Shedd staff decided that in order to keep these animals alive they would need to be very aggressive with the approach they used to treat the animals. They decided to monitor the incoming weight of the animals, acclimate them for 24 hours, and then assist feed at day two with gruel. The animals would be assist-fed daily until their weight was stable or rising, if they began to gain weight the feedings would be lessened to every other day.
For all interventions the animals were anesthetized in a ten-gallon transport with 75-100ppm of MS-222. The weights were taken with the animal in the water. A plastic tube was placed over the stinger to prevent any injury to vet staff or aquarist.
While using this method staff learned that the animals were not gaining weight. So, they took many things into consideration when contemplating the next step. Things to consider were:
1. The metabolic requirements (caloric needs) of stingrays are largely unknown. 2. Most of the animals were growing, so additional calories needed to be accounted for.
3. Entering quarantine is more stressful and animals require more energy (Fowler and Miller, 164).
4. Calories of the gruel were not analyzed.
5. Sick animals require more energy (some had bacterial infections at the time of treatment) (Fowler and Miller, 14).
6. There is a limit on the volume of the stomach (a 100g ray can only take about 7-10cc’s of gruel)(N. Mylniczenko, personal communication, March 2004).
The first thing done was to re-evaluate the gruel that was used and it’s contents. Gruel one contained:
1. Hill’s Canine and Feline A/D Diet®
2. Nutrical®
They were mixed in equal proportions and cod liver oil and pedialyte were added until the mixture became easy to pass through the syringe. The advantage to this gruel was that it is easy to store, mix and push through the syringe. The disadvantage is that the animals did not gain any weight and continued in their anorexic state.
Gruel two was concocted and evaluated with vet staff and aquarists keeping in mind the need for a higher calorie count. It contained:
1. Hill’s Canine and Feline A/D Diet ®
2. Nutrical®
3. Emeraid®
4. Cod Liver Oil
5. Pedialyte
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The Hill’s Diet® and Emeraid® were mixed in equal proportions and the nutrical, cod liver oil and pedialyte were added until the mixture passed through a syringe. Animals gained weight, but it was artificial. Constipation occurred most likely because Emeraid® is higher in carbohydrates.
Another gruel was made, gruel three, which contains:
1. Hill’s N/D® (Neoplasia diet)
2. Hill’s A/D®
3. Less Nutrical® (empty calories, but liquid)
4. Cod Liver Oil
5. Pedialyte
This was ground in the blender. The advantage is the higher calorie count; unfortunately, this gruel was too thick to pass through the gavage tube and could not be used for the rays.
Finally, the last gruel, gruel four was the mixture that helped the rays to gain weight and keep it on. This last concoction contained:
1. 800g of Pacific and Spanish mackerel fillets
2. 100g of shrimp/shellfish (with shells, without tails)
3. 2 sheets of nori seaweed
4. 20g of Nutrical®
5. 1 Vitazoo®
6. 100ml of STAT®
7. Cod Liver Oil-add enough to push gruel through gavage tube (added calories and to reduce thickness of mixture)
Preparation time takes about one hour. The food must be ground exceptionally well with a blender. Freeze the food in small packets and thaw the day of use. The mixture is thick, but it can pass through the tube. The ingredients in it are very high in calories and viscous enough to pass through the gavage tube. The STAT® is a high lipids liquid from PRN pharmaceuticals, Vitazoo® is the elasmobranch vitamin variety from Mazuri, Nutrical® is a high nutrient liquid from EVSCO pharmaceuticals, and the cod liver oil is a high lipids liquid from a local pharmacy.
To administer the food we used a large red rubber catheter and a 60cc syringe. The food is back-loaded into the syringe and the end of the catheter is cut off and melted down to create a smooth surface. When administering gruel to stingrays be sure to go gently, they have a large esophageal sphincter, but the food should not be forced. Make sure the catheter is fully in the stomach; as tip can be palpated. Regurgitation can occur, clear gills immediately with water otherwise animals will stop breathing. If an animal stops breathing within an hour of feeding pump water over gills to clear possible food entrapment.
As the animals were assist-fed regularly they began to acquire an appetite on their own. Once this occurred, vet staff and aquarists decreased with assist-feeds and continued to weigh them every third or fourth day. The amount of fatty foods offered to the animals like herring fillets, mackerel fillets, and capelin were increased.
Once the animals’ weight stabilized and they were eating, standard elasmobranch quarantine was started. Animals received a low dose bath of praziquantel at 1ppm, dimilin at
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0.03ppm, and a thirty-day observational ensued. When the animals were done with their standard quarantine they were moved onto exhibit and weighed weekly, bi-weekly, and then on a monthly basis.
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Discussion and Conclusion
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]Perhaps the biggest case for improvement was a
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[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]T. lymma [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]named "Rae West" that arrived at the Shedd weighing approximately 942g. Over the course of her first couple of months she dropped about 165g leaving her at 777g. Once vet staff and aquarists developed the final gruel concoction to assist feed the animals, "Rae West" began to turn around. Within a month’s time the stingray started to gain weight and eat fatty foods on her own. She now weighs 1.4kg and is doing well on exhibit.
Overall, the statistics at the Shedd have been extremely encouraging. So far, this technique has been used on seven [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]D. kuhlii [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]and seven [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]T. lymma[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman][FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]. There have been no animal losses since the Shedd started using this method of quarantining blue-spotted stingrays. All of the animals gained weight using this method and continue to thrive on exhibit. Today, animals receive bi-annual physicals to keep track of growth rates, acquire blood values and assess overall health.
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Acknowledgements
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[FONT=Times New Roman,Times New Roman]I would like to thank everyone that helped me with gathering material for this paper, especially, Eric Curtis, Kurt Hettiger, Jeff Mitchell, Dr. Natalie Mylniczenko, Michael O’Neill, George Parsons, Mark Schick, and Rachel Wilborn.
From http://www.colszoo.org/internal/drum_croaker/pdf/2005.pdf
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