Aquatics Flashcards
What is a reef tank defined as?
A marine environment designed specifically to suit the growth of coral.
What is a brackish tank defined as?
A combination between salt and freshwater for fish that prefer salinity in their water without a full marine environment.
What is a planted tank defined as?
It can be freshwater, brackish or marine in nature that are focused on growing plants. It can house living creatures as well.
What is a freshwater tank defined as?
A receptacle that holds one or more freshwater organisms for decorative, pet keeping or research purposes.
What is a Coldwater tank defined as?
A tank that houses fish that don’t require a heating apparatus (e.g. goldfish).
What is a tropical tank defined as?
(aggressive fish and community tank considerations too)
A tank which maintains a warm environment with a temperature ranging between 24-27 degrees Celsius.
Aggressive fish (e.g. black skirt, silver dollar) shouldn’t be kept with other fish with long-flowing fins.
Community tanks house large numbers of species that make a successful community (these fish don’t normally co-exist in the wild)
Saltwater tanks:
A _____ tank is needed as salt water organisms are used to a ____ _____ _____.
________ and ________ balances need to be exact as well as the _______ schedule.
A (large) tank is needed as salt water organisms are used to a (vast ocean space).
(mineral) and (chemical) balances need to be exact as well as the (feeding) schedule.
Filtration (mechanical)
Type:
Purpose:
Type: wool and sponge
Purpose: remove large particulate waste
Filtration (biological)
Type:
Purpose:
Type: ceramic, sponges, rocks and surface area
Purpose: removes fish waste product
Filtration (chemical)
Type:
Purpose:
Type: charcoal and zeolite
Purpose: removes odours, discolouration, toxins and some waste products.
Name some examples of freshwater organisms:
mickey mouse platy
guppies
zebra danio
neon tetra
white cloud minnow
harlequin rasbora
java moss
java fern
amazon sword
anachris
hornwort
Classification of fish: Agnatha?
• Jawless
• A notochord (a cartilaginous skeletal rod supporting the body in all embryonic and some adult chordate animals)
• paired gill pouches
• two-chambered heart
• examples: lamprey, hagfish
Classification of fish: Chondritchyes
• Cartilaginous
• mostly marine
• have jaws
• paired fins
• hard scales
• two-chambered heart
• have nostrils
• examples: great white shark, spiny dogfish, common eagle ray
Classification of fish: Osteichthyes
• Skeletal/bony fish (remember: oseto = bones)
• scales
• paired fins
• one pair of gill openings
• jaws
• paired nostrils
• examples: ocean sunfish, Atlantic salmon, swordfish
Chordata:
Has a spine
Cnidaria:
Jellyfish, sea anemones. They have stinging cells.
Porifera:
Sponges (remember PORE-ifera)
What are the 5 kingdoms?
• Animalia
• Plantae
• Fungus
• Bacteria
• Protists
Mollusca:
Snails, slugs, molluscs
Annelida:
Worms
Arthropoda:
Insects, arachnids
Echinodermata:
Starfish
Name 4 species of Agnatha:
(These are just some examples, google yours to check if it’s correct)
• pacific hagfish
• western Brook lamprey
• pouched lamprey
• sanchaspis megalorostrata
Name some Chondrichthyes species
(These are just some examples, google yours to check if it’s correct)
• lemons shark
• Australian ghost shark
• common eagle ray
• scalloped hammerhead
• blacktip reef shark
• frilled shark
• nursehound
• small tooth sand tiger
• Mille shark
• porbeagle
Name some species of oestichthyes:
(These are just some examples, google yours to check if it’s correct)
• Atlantic salmon
• swordfish
• Atlantic cod
• angler
• northern pike
• European bass
• turbot
• garibaldi
• European eel
• mahi mahi
(Whales)
What does mystercetis mean?
How does this work?
The animal is baleen - filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. The whale first opens its mouth underwater to take in water. The whale then pushes the water out, and animals such as krill are filtered by the baleen and remain as a food source for the whale.
(Whales)
What does odentocentis mean?
Toothed (e.g. sperm whale)
Where is the caudal fin? What does it do?
The caudal fin, or tail, of a fish is the only fin to be connected to the vertebral column. It is the primary means of locomotion for most fish. Unlike many marine mammals with tails that use an up-and-down motion, fish generally use a side-to-side thrust of their caudal fin for propulsion.
Kidneys:
In fish, the kidney only serves an osmoregulatory function; the excretion of nitrogenous waste occurs at the gill where ammonia is excreted as quickly as it is produced
Dorsal fin:
The dorsal fin is located on the top of a fish along the back between the head and tail. A fish may have a single dorsal fin or two connected or unconnected fins. The dorsal fins increase the lateral surface of the body during swimming, and thereby provide stability but at the expense of increasing drag.
Swim bladder:
This is a thin-walled sac located inside the body of a fish that is usually filled with gas. Besides helping fishes stay buoyant it can also function as a sound producer and receptor or as an accessory respiratory organ.
Oesophagus:
The oesophagus in bony fish is short and expandable so that large objects can be swallowed. The oesophagus walls are layered with muscle and lead to the stomach.
Operculum:
The operculum is the bony flap that protects the gills from harm. It opens and closes to allow water to pass over the gills.
Gills:
Gills are branching organs located on the side of fish heads that have many, many small blood vessels called capillaries. As the fish opens its mouth, water runs over the gills, and blood in the capillaries picks up oxygen that’s dissolved in the water.
Heart:
The systemic heart of fishes consists of four chambers in series, the sinus venosus, atrium, ventricle, and conus or bulbus. Valves between the chambers and contraction of all chambers except the bulbus maintain a unidirectional blood flow through the heart.
Pelvic fin:
The pelvic fin stabilizes the fish while swimming and allows for up-and-down movement in the water. (They look like little arms)
Liver:
The fish liver consists essentially of parenchyma tissue usually formed from double layers of liver cells separated from each other by capillary-like blood spaces called liver sinusoids. The liver is an organ that stores carbohydrates as glycogen and, especially before spawning, fats.
Stomach:
The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.
Intestine:
In fish, there is no true large intestine, but simply a short rectum connecting the end of the digestive part of the gut to the cloaca. In sharks, this includes a rectal gland that secretes salt to help the animal maintain osmotic balance with the seawater.
Reproductive organs:
Fish reproductive organs include testes and ovaries. In most species, gonads are paired organs of similar size, which can be partially or totally fused. There may also be a range of secondary organs that increase reproductive fitness.
Anal fin:
a median ventral unpaired fin, situated between the anus and the tail fin in fishes, that helps to maintain stable equilibrium.
Lateral line:
Lateral line information is used for prey detection, spatial orientation, predator avoidance, schooling behavior, intraspecific communication and station holding. The lateral line of most fishes consists of superficial neuromasts (SNs) and canal neuromasts (CNs).
What are superficial neuromasts?
Superficial neuromasts are structures that detect water flow on the surface of the body of fish and amphibians.
What are canal neuromasts?
Canal neuromasts are embedded in lateral line canals and sensitive to pressure gradients between canal pores.
Name some saltwater organisms:
• Ocellan’s clownfish
• coral beauty angelfish
• flame angelfish
• lawnmower Blenny
• avriga butterflyfish
• raccoon butterflyfish
Name some brackish organisms:
• catfish
• common Molly
• bumblebee goby
• guppies
• archerfish
• pufferfish
Define the term natality
A baby
Define the term divergent evolution within animal populations
Two species in different parts of the world developing similar traits but are not geographically connected
What does CITES stand for?
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), signed in 1973
What is CITES?
- International agreement between countries.
- Protection of endangered animals and plant.
- Regulates the trade in animals and plants.
- Applies to animals and goods eg lizard skins
- 30,000 animals and plants protected.
How does CITES work?
- Protected species listed in three APPENDICES
- The Appendices differ in the strength of protection provided.
- Traders need to possess an export licence to capture and export protected species.
CITES: what does appendix 1 entail?
• Endangered species.
• Trade only allowed for conservation reasons.
• E.g. Indonesian River Turtle : Batagur baska
CITES: what does appendix 2 entail?
- Contiued trade threatens the species survival.
- Export permit necessary.
- Mediterranean tortoises, Pig-nosed river turtle.
CITES: what does appendix 3 entail?
- Species protected in one country and requires neighbouring countries to help. Export licences needed for trading.
- The agreements are used in S.E.Asia and China to protect wild turtles caught for food.
- Turtle farms now provide animals for the food market and to be used as medicines.
- Chinese Soft -shelled turtle : Pelodiscus sp.
Why do we use Latin names when referring to a species?
So it’s able to be universally recognised by one common name
Why do we use scientific names for I.D.?
• they are unique to each species
• scientific names are formed from the animal’s genus and species name
What are the 7 classifications? Give an example for each using the amur tiger
Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Class - Mammal
Order - Carnivora
Family - Felidae
Genus - Panthera
Species - Tigris
What is torpor?
A temporary drop in body temperature and metabolic rate often accompanied by failure to eat or micturate/defecate, is an adaptation of endothermic vertebrates that enables them to survive the energetic demands of cold ambient temperature.
What is Aestivation?
• the process of entering torpor during periods of desiccation where an individual will not eat or drink
• African lungfish have the adaptation to do this by the creation of a subterranean mud cocoon - they can last up to 5 years like this!
Bony vertebra function:
Protects and supports the spinal cord
Gallbladder function:
Provides fish with energy and nutrients
Gonad function:
Aids in the release of gametes
Scales function:
Protection and locomotion
Snout function:
Poke into holes to find food
Why do we need lighting for aquariums?
• photosynthetic organisms
• circadian rhythms
• breeding/seasonal variation
Why is blue light good?
It can penetrate deep water better than regular white light
Why is red light good?
Good for enhancing colours of fish in the tank
What is light intensity?
• the strength or amount of light produced by a source; measured in watts or lux
• the higher the wattage of a bulb, the more intense light it produces
• if you have a deeper tank, it will require more intense light so a higher watt bulb will be needed
Why are heaters important for some fish tanks?
• breeding/seasonal variation
• natural environment
What are heaters in terms of fish tanks?
• can have inline or internal/submersible heaters
• work on wattage - 150w, 250w, etc
• in-line heaters have a thermostat and water is heated to a set temperature as it passes through the piping/heater
• if water passing through is at the set temperature, the heating element will switch off
Why do we need to provide enrichment?
• meet behaviour/biological needs of the animal - welfare
• aesthetics
Enrichment is a principle that seeks to enhance the ______ of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental ______ necessary for optimal _____________ and ___________ wellbeing.
Enrichment is a principle that seeks to enhance the (quality) of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental (stimuli) necessary for optimal (psychological) and (physiological) wellbeing.
What behaviours can enrichment encourage?
• sheltering
• develop cognitive skills
• attracting a mate
• foraging
• nesting
• interaction with others (same/different species, keepers)
• intimate egg laying
Give some examples of fish tank enrichment
• live plants
• rocks
• wood
• decorations
• live food (legislation dependant)
• PVC tubes
• mirrors
• children’s toys (lego, balls, etc)
What behaviours can lack of enrichment cause?
• pacing
• repetitive swimming patterns
• over-active/under-active individuals
• lack of interest in breeding
• damaging enclosures
• aggression due to unclear territories/boundaries
As well as ensuring good _____ _______ and _________ to make sure aquatic species stay healthy, keepers must also ensure that the animals are located in a ________ ______ that helps to reduce _____ for an animal. A good location can also help reduce work load related to __________.
As well as ensuring good (water quality) and (enrichment) to make sure aquatic species stay healthy, keepers must also ensure that the animals are located in a (sensible location) that helps to reduce (stress) for an animal. A good location can also help reduce work load related to (maintenance).
What are some considerations for the location of a fish tank?
• waste disposal
• air quality
• noise
• floor loading
• passing traffic
• proximity to electricity
• proximity to windows/lights
• proximity to water sources
What are the 5 types of feeders?
• browsers
• surface feeding
• filter feeding
• substrate feeding
• mid-water feeding
Browsing fish:
• grazing on algae, plankton, and coral
• May cause small groups to form in an area of resource, although individuals may be solitary
What adaptations may a browsing fish need?
• a mouth that can suck
• a downturned mouth
Surface feeding fish:
• upwards facing mouth
• eyes that break the surface
Midwater fish:
• shoaling fish (a large number of fish swimming together)
• predatory species
Midwater fish adaptation:
Adapted to move quickly - limited space is an issue for captivity
What kind of animals are substrate feeders?
• starfish
• triggerfish
What kind of organisms are filter feeders?
• jellyfish
• anemones
• whales
What do filter feeders need in order to eat?
Strong currents to be able to catch debris/plankton/algae suspended in water
What are the seven mouth types? What are they commonly associated with?
Superior - ambush predators
Terminal - other fish
Inferior - bottom feeder
Sub-terminal - bottom dwelling
Barbels - Barbels are a whisker like organ found near the mouth of certain fish. These organs are sensory organs that help the fish locate food in murky waters, acting as taste buds or nostrils
Tubular - sucking
Elongated - poke around for food
Fish foods normally contain ______ nutrients, _____ elements and _________ necessary to keep captive fish in good ______.
Fish foods normally contain (macro) nutrients, (trace) elements and (vitamins) necessary to keep captive fish in good (health).
List some characteristics of dry food:
• long shelf life
• very short lived once they hit the water
• They lose their nutrients within seconds of becoming wet again
• Vitamin C is lost within about ten seconds of soaking
Dry food types: Flakes
• Most commonly seen of the ‘dry’ foods,
• Usually well balanced to suit all types of fish.
• However, they have a very high surface area to volume ratio so they can spread out in the water and be consumed more effectively
Dry food types: pellets
• Floating foods in a range of sizes.
• Better at holding their nutrients than flake foods
• not suitable for all types of fish because of feeding styles - e.g. filter feeders
Dry food types: freeze dried
• These are creatures such as shrimps and water fleas that have been prepared in the same way as flake foods
• They have no moisture and tend to float
• Tend to be lacking in nutritional value
True or false :
It is not generally permitted to feed a fish on another live fish in the UK.
True
Live food - the positives:
• Often essential when breeding
• Good form of enrichment (predation, moving round tank, smelling/observing)
• Good for weaning wild caught stock onto frozen food.
• Can provide a food supply overnight
• Animals love it!
Live food - the negatives:
• Never a reliable supply.
• Nutritionally, live foods are good, but by no means excellent.
• Can be expensive to feed live foods continuously.
• Many parasites use live foods as a way of getting into fish – easy to contaminate a tank.
• Needs to be rinsed or treated first.
• Shelf life is short
• Hard to gauge how much is being eaten or how much is going into the systems.
• It can be hard to wean fish off of live foods when they get used to them
Frozen food:
• Allow keepers to offer their fish diets that are almost impossible to culture in the UK, such as tropical shrimps, Krill, and other delicacies.
• Excellent value for money.
• A bag of live food might cost £1.00, where a single pack of frozen food will have 24 bags worth of food for around £2.50.
• MUST remain frozen until ready to be used.
• Once it has defrosted, it must either be used or binned, it cannot be refrozen.
• Most are treated with radiation before freezing – this kills any possible diseases that might survive the freezing process.
• Some young fish can be tricked into taking frozen foods instead of dried foods.
How do you recognise that a fish might be ill?
• colour may fade out/change
• body, shape, condition and/or behaviour will be abnormal
• the fish may refuse to feed all over food and trailing faeces appear at vent
• condition of the fins and gills, will deteriorate. Fins may be clamped close to the body.
• the fish may not keep it’s swimming position
• there may be signs of injuries, growths, or abnormalities
Causes of ill health in fish
• developmental disorders
• poor nutrition
• trauma
• pre-existing and novel disorders
• poor water quality
• incorrect temperature
• stress
What can happen if a fish is injured?
• injured fish have often been bullied by tank mates
• injuries can be the site of secondary infections, bacterial and fungal
• stress caused by bullying, injuries and infections can lower their immune system further, which can in some cases be fatal
What is a parasite when it comes to fish diseases?
A parasite is an organism that lives of another option to the detriment of the host cells. These can be internal (endoparasites) or external (ectoparasites).
They can be:
• protozoan (single celled)
• nematodes (round worms)
• Digenea (flukes/flatworm)
• crustacean (eg louse)
What is a fungus when it comes to fish diseases?
Fungus or multicellular, spore, producing organisms that live off other organisms and dead matter. Some are parasitic.
Fungal spores are commonly found in aquarium water. Healthy fish have a protective mucus covering which can prevent infection by fungal spores.
What are bacteria when it comes to fish diseases?
• bacteria are microscopic, single celled organisms that can reproduce rapidly
• they are naturally present in aquarium water
• fish in good health kept in good water conditions can fight bacterial infections
• fish are most prone to such infections if in poor condition as a result of bad or sudden changes in water, quality overcrowding, bullying, bad handling or transportation
• a poor diet, lacking insufficient protein, fatty acids and vitamins can reduce fish resistance to such disease
Gill flukes and skin flukes: cause, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• digenea and monogenea parasites are caught by direct contact with contaminated fish or enclosures
• flukes attach themselves to the body and eat skin/gill tissue and blood
Symptoms:
• the gills may move rapidly and fish made gasp at the water surface
• the fish may scrape itself against objects
• colours fade as damaged areas are covered in mucus
• the skin may redden in places
• the fins may become ragged
Treatment:
• these parasites can be treated with formalin
Camellanus: (fish disease) cause, symptoms, treatment
Cause:
• caused by the addition of fish that have not been quarantined or through feeding
Symptoms:
• abdominal bloating
• wasting
• reluctance to take food
• observed read/brown worms protruding from the fishes vent
Treatment:
• commercial fish wormers will help with infestation
Itch or white spot disease (ichthyophthirius)
Causes, symptoms, and treatments
Causes:
• protozoan parasites is a free swimming in the water, or carried in with the new fish or plants
• fish under stress from bad water conditions are more susceptible
Symptoms:
• the fish’s skin and things are covered in tiny white spots
• a badly affected fish may make rapid gill movements
Treatment:
• remove plants and activated carbon from filters as they can affect/be affected by treatment
• treat with methylene blue, which kills the free swimming larval stage (theronts)
Costia: causes, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• caused by heavy infections of flagellate protozoans
• may occur after a fish has been attacked due to stress/injury
Symptoms:
• Costia live on the surface of fish, but are very difficult to identify as they are extremely small organisms
• some fish may have grey patches
• rubbing on the substrate/tank/theming
Treatment:
• formalin will treat this condition
Thrichodina: causes, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• a protozoan
• naturally occurring but high levels occur as a result of poor water quality or overcrowding
Symptoms:
• fish may take on a milky appearance due to increased mucus secretion
• increased flashing/rubbing observed
• lethargic, reluctance to feed
Treatment:
• formalin or malachite, depending on whether fresh or salt water
Saprolegnia: causes, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• aquatic fungi. Fish that are in poor health and have damaged mucous membranes through bad water quality, rough handling, fighting, or physical injury are more prone to infection fungus can be a secondary infection to other conditions.
Symptoms:
• grey, white or brown cotton wool like growths on the skin or fins
Treatment:
• malachite green can be used and salt baths may help recovery
Ulcer disease & Haemorrhagic Septicaemia: causes, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• a number of different bacteria. These could be transmitted from other infected fish, and/or bad water conditions.
Symptoms:
• open sores and ulcers, reddening of things and vent, may lose their appetite and colour may change
Treatment:
• fish can be fed, antibiotic medicine in feed. If severe fish should be isolated and antiseptic applied to infected areas.
• insure tank conditions are correct
Fin rot: causes, symptoms, and treatment
causes:
• bacteria such as Aeromonas, pseudomonas and Flavobacterium (mouth fungus)
Symptoms:
• damaged, split, or ragged looking things
• can lead to cotton wool like Tufts around the mouth
• may cause loss of appetite and listlessness
• when chronic may develop ulcers on the body
Treatment:
• aquarium, antibacterial medicines are available and in serious cases, veterinary treatment is needed
• it is easier to prevent bacterial infections than cure them
Spring Viremia of carp: causes, symptoms, and treatment
This is a notifiable disease. DEFRA must be informed of fish identified as having this disease.
Causes:
• viral infection caused by rhabdovirus Carpio
Symptoms :
• darkening of skin, pale gild, popeye, protruding vent, bleeding in gills, skin and eyes. Lethargic, abnormal swimming positions, sitting on bottom of the tank.
Treatment:
• no known treatment
Anchor worm: causes, symptoms, and treatment
Causes:
• the crustacean parasite Lernaea. It can grow up to 12 mm. usually brought in by non-quarantine fish.
Symptoms :
• whitish-green threads, hang out of the fishes skin, with an inflamed area or ulcer at the point of their attachment
Treatment:
• the water can be treated with insecticide. The adult parasites can be removed manually and the wound treated with antiseptic to prevent bacterial infection.
What is a swim bladder problem? What are the causes, symptoms, and treatment?
Causes:
• this can be caused by a number of things from internal swellings, tumours, viral and bacterial infections, internal deformities, constipation, parasites, etc to overfeeding
Symptoms:
• bobbing to the surface
• swimming upside down
• listing to one side with abnormal swimming patterns
Treatment:
• unless the cause can be identified, this is difficult to treat
• starvation of fish for a few days might correct the problem if it is as a result of overfeeding. If this does not work a vet should be consulted
Abnormalities can be brought about by:
• inbreeding and congenital deformities
• tumours and swellings
• viral growths
• malnutrition or inappropriate diet
• internal disorders/parasites that cause fluid retention and swelling
