• Question: What do you test on the dissected fish?

    Asked by to Kim, Jennifer, James on 14 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Jennifer Stephens

      Jennifer Stephens answered on 14 Jun 2014:

      Hi Sammyrane123

      Different brands of ketchup? 😆

      Sorry, not my area of expertise. Maybe Kim and James can do better .

    • Photo: Kimberley Lowe

      Kimberley Lowe answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      Hi Sammyrane123,

      When we dissect the fish we take little pieces of all the different organs, so that in the lab, the histologist can look at them and see if there are any signs of disease. We also take small pieces of tissue to check for viruses. In this case the tissues are smooshed up and the components separated out, and the DNA of the virus can be isolated if it is there.

      When the fish looks sick, we also take swabs of the gills and skin, which is then put onto agar plates and any bacteria will grow. Sometimes this is helpful, because we can tell the farmer if they should use a medicine to get rid of the bacteria – a bit like when you go to the doctor with a sore throat and you get antibiotics to take to make it go away.

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