title: Regular care and maintenance of a zebrafish (Danio rerio) laboratory: an introduction.
abstract: This protocol describes regular care and maintenance of a zebrafish laboratory. Zebrafish are now gaining popularity in genetics, pharmacological and behavioural research. As a vertebrate, zebrafish share considerable genetic sequence similarity with humans and are being used as an animal model for various human disease conditions. The advantages of zebrafish in comparison to other common vertebrate models include high fecundity, low maintenance cost, transparent embryos, and rapid development. Due to the spur of interest in zebrafish research, the need to establish and maintain a productive zebrafish housing facility is also increasing. Although literature is available for the maintenance of a zebrafish laboratory, a concise video protocol is lacking. This video illustrates the protocol for regular housing, feeding, breeding and raising of zebrafish larvae. This process will help researchers to understand the natural behaviour and optimal conditions of zebrafish husbandry and hence troubleshoot experimental issues that originate from the fish husbandry conditions. This protocol will be of immense help to researchers planning to establish a zebrafish laboratory, and also to graduate students who are intending to use zebrafish as an animal model.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care, School of Medical sciences, Edith Cowan University. chaudharyavdesh@gmail.com
authors.forename: Avdesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Avdesh
authors.forename: Mengqi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Mathew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Martin-Iverson
authors.forename: Alinda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mondal
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rainey-Smith
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taddei
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lardelli
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Verdile
authors.forename: Ralph N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007756:Laboratory Animal Science / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*