No abstract

Resources:https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/CLIA/index.html CLIA summary https://wwwn.cdc.gov/clia CLIA website www.clsi.org Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute www.agriculture.gov.au/animal/health/system/lab-network#standards-and-accreditation and www.nata.com.au Information on Australia's accreditation system for veterinary laboratories www.iso.org International Organization for Standardization https://www.iso.org/standard/56115.html ISO's international standard 15189: Medical laboratories -Requirements for quality and competence www.ifcc.org

Standardized CBC tests can be used as health assessment tools for elasmobranchs. Total RBC counts should be viewed as estimates.

: In December 2009, the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards committee published the updated and peer‐reviewed ASVCP Quality Assurance Guidelines on the Society's website. These guidelines are intended for use by veterinary diagnostic laboratories and veterinary research laboratories that are not covered by the US Food and Drug Administration Good Laboratory Practice standards (Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Chapter 58). The guidelines have been divided into 3 reports: (1) general analytical factors for veterinary laboratory performance and comparisons; (2) hematology, hemostasis, and crossmatching; and (3) clinical chemistry, cytology, and urinalysis. This particular report is one of 3 reports and provides recommendations for control of preanalytical and analytical factors related to hematology for mammalian and nonmammalian species, hemostasis testing, and crossmatching and is adapted from sections 1.1 and 2.3 (mammalian hematology), 1.2 and 2.4 (nonmammalian hematology), 1.5 and 2.7 (hemostasis testing), and 1.6 and 2.8 (crossmatching) of the complete guidelines. These guidelines are not intended to be all‐inclusive; rather, they provide minimal guidelines for quality assurance and quality control for veterinary laboratory testing and a basis for laboratories to assess their current practices, determine areas for improvement, and guide continuing professional development and education efforts.

Descriptive information regarding the peripheral blood of normal whale sharks Rhincodon typus Smith 1828 is presented based on samples collected from 2 healthy female specimens held in an aquarium collection. Erythrocyte morphology was similar to other orectolobiforms and major leukocyte types were similar to other non-carcharhinid sharks. The numerically dominant population was the lymphocyte (46%), followed by the fine eosinophilic granulocyte or heterophil (39.5%). The remaining 15% of white blood cells were divided among coarse eosinophilic granulocytes or eosinophils, simple neutrophils, monocytes similar to those of most elasmobranchs and a rare basophilic stippled granulocyte or basophil. Thrombocytes were similar to those of other shark species; no granulated thrombocytes were observed in this species. Blood gas data and serum chemistry values are also presented. For comparison, 22 blood samples collected from 2 moribund male specimens showed that the heterophil/lymphocyte ratio may be a potentially useful biomarker of whale shark health. A pattern of marked heterophilia in these animals became more pronounced as their clinical condition deteriorated. These data represent the first exploration of the internal biology of the world's largest fish.