Zebrafish

Tricaine, eugenol and etomidate for repetitive procedural anesthesia in adult zebrafish, Danio rerio: Effect on stress and behavior (2025)

Zebrafish has emerged as a popular animal model in biomedical research. Numerous procedures and interventions require occasionally repetitive anesthesia. Tricaine is the most frequently used anesthetic for zebrafish and its efficacy is well established. However, the safety and efficacy of...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Anesthesia & SedationAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Narumanchi, S., Perttunen, S., Laine, P. et al. 2025. Tricaine, eugenol and etomidate for repetitive procedural anesthesia in adult zebrafish, Danio rerio: Effect on stress and behavior. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 12.

VMS-Fish: A comprehensive application for zebrafish husbandry management (2025)

Zebrafish are widely used and increasingly adopted in developmental biology, disease modeling and tissue regeneration research. However, a freely available and user-friendly zebrafish husbandry management application has been lacking. Here, we developed an open-source fish management application, referred to as...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Muraleedharan Saraswathy, V., Mokalled, M. H. 2025. VMS-Fish: A comprehensive application for zebrafish husbandry management. Zebrafish 22(2), 59–63.

Evaluation of tricaine methanesulfonate concentrations for flow anesthesia in zebrafish (Danio rerio) (2025)

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are often anesthetized by immersion in buffered tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222). Although commonly utilized, immersion anesthesia presents a shortcoming of lethal asphyxiation with increased duration of exposures. A newer technique that circumvents this issue, known as flow anesthesia,...

Year Published: 2025Topics: Anesthesia & SedationAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Kramer, A. G., Bern, L. R., Ferguson, L. T. et al. 2025. Evaluation of tricaine methanesulfonate concentrations for flow anesthesia in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish 22(3), 99–106.

Advancing zebrafish husbandry: takeaways from the 2024 husbandry workshop and husbandry summit (2024)

The 2024 Zebrafish Husbandry Workshop and Summit held during the World Aquaculture Society Meeting in San Antonio focused on key areas for improving zebrafish husbandry research. Discussions highlighted the need for comprehensive literature on husbandry, better communication and collaboration between...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Altemara, M., Baur, B., Varga, Z. M. 2024. Advancing Zebrafish Husbandry: Takeaways From the 2024 Husbandry Workshop and Husbandry Summit. Zebrafish 21(6), 418–422.

Novel euthanasia technique for zebrafish using electric shock in standard group housing aquaria

Zebrafish are widely used in research, accounting for approximately 50% of all laboratory fish across Europe. Due to their rapid reproduction and aging, effective and practical euthanasia methods are necessary for managing large stocks. This study investigated whether adult zebrafish...

Year Published: 2025Topics: EuthanasiaAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Saarinen, U., Sundell, E., Sneddon, L. et al. 2025. Novel euthanasia technique for zebrafish using electric shock in standard group housing aquaria. Scientific Reports 15(1), 3011.

Zebrafish maintenance conditions affect behavioral and biochemical biomarkers: A possible interfering factor on the research results

Over the years, scientific research with fish models has grown at a rapid pace, and issues such as animal welfare are becoming increasingly important in various areas of animal husbandry and experimentation. Here, we evaluated whether Danio rerio behavior is...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Amaral, F. U. I., Pompermaier, A., Almeida, P. A. de et al. 2024. Zebrafish maintenance conditions affect behavioral and biochemical biomarkers: A possible interfering factor on the research results. Zebrafish.

Effects of housing density on anxiety-like behavior of zebrafish in the plus maze with ramp

Population density in experimental animals is a crucial factor in maintaining the wellbeing of the organisms. Inadequate housing conditions can compromise the validity and reliability of research results, making comparisons between studies difficult. In sociable species such as zebrafish (Danio...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Pessoa, R., Motta, C., Araujo-Pessoa, E. et al. 2024. Effects of housing density on anxiety-like behavior of zebrafish in the plus maze with ramp. Behavioural Processes 222, 105114.

Heart and shoal: Social cues and oxytocin receptors impact stress recovery in the zebrafish

In many species, social interactions decrease behavioral, hormonal, and neural responses to environmental stressors. While “social buffering” and its mechanisms have received considerable attention in mammals, we know less about the phenomenon in fish. The nonapeptide oxytocin regulates social behavior...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Wilson, L. C., Riordan, A., Nussbaum, A. et al. 2024. Heart and shoal: Social cues and oxytocin receptors impact stress recovery in the zebrafish. Physiology & Behavior 283, 114613.

Puzzle feeder as a cognitive enrichment strategy determines long-term welfare improvements in a teleost fish

Providing access to cognitive tasks, such as puzzle feeders, holds promise as enrichment strategy to enhance the welfare of captive animals. Despite the substantial number of teleost fish in captivity, the effects of cognitive enrichments in this group remain relatively...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Gatto, E., Varracchio, C., Bertolucci, C. et al. 2024. Puzzle feeder as a cognitive enrichment strategy determines long-term welfare improvements in a teleost fish. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 279, 106401.

Fin clipping does not increase opercular beat rate in tricaine-treated zebrafish

To carry out research with genetically modified animals, their genotype has to be assessed. A standard protocol to obtain required tissue samples from zebrafish is finclipping. However, some studies reported considerable stress induced by this protocol. We therefore assessed ventilation...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Body Modification/MutilationAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Burkhalter, M. D., Philipp, M. 2024. Fin clipping does not increase opercular beat rate in tricaine-treated zebrafish. Laboratory Animals 58(6), 616–620.