Evaluation of critical care blood analytes assessed with a point-of-care portable blood analyzer in wild and aquarium-housed elasmobranchs and the influence of phlebotomy site on results

Abstract

Brevity of handling or chemical restraint may have reduced secondary stress responses in fish because extreme variations in blood analyte values were infrequent. Sample collection site, species categorization, acclimation to handling, and restraint technique should be considered when assessing values obtained with the POC analyzer used in this study for blood analytes and immediate metabolic status in elasmobranchs.

Coeliotomy under general anaesthesia and removal of an enterolith from a sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus)

“…Periodic blood gas samples measured throughout the surgery would have enabled the shark to be supplemented with bicarbonate or lactated Ringer’s with urea intravenously if acidosis had been noted (Greenwell and others 2003). It is recognised that sharks have a plasma pH of 7 and there might be a reduced success rate for recovery if the blood pH drops below that value during anaesthesia (Naples and others 2012). Although blood gas analyses are based on arterial blood, difficult to obtain in sharks, venous samples will indicate a trend and can be of value (Stamper 2004).…”

Comparison of hematology, plasma biochemistry, and blood gas variables between 2 venipuncture sites in Southern Stingrays (Dasyatis americana)

“…Venipuncture for the purpose of hematology and plasma biochemistry analysis is frequently used in the clinical assessment of elasmobranch health in captive and free‐ranging populations . Validation studies have been carried out on portable point‐of‐care blood analyzers in elasmobranch and teleost species, and these analyzers have been used to evaluate the physiologic impact of different capture methods in free‐ranging elasmobranchs …”

“…The predominant venipuncture site reported in clinical pathology studies of batoid elasmobranch species is the caudal vasculature or tail vein . Blood obtained from this site is typically considered a mixed arterial and venous sample, because the caudal vein and artery run adjacent to each other along the ventral midline aspect of the tail within the hemal arch .…”

“…Water temperature was used as a surrogate for directly measuring the animals' body temperature. Various temperature correction formulas have been applied for elasmobranchs and other ectotherms, but species‐specific validation of these corrections is likely necessary for accuracy, and was outside the scope of this project . The iStat temperature‐corrected values should not be considered physiologically correct, but are qualitatively useful clinical approximations, and are presented here for comparison with other studies in which instrument corrections are reported.…”

Use of a point-of-care portable blood analyzer for evaluation of blood gas analytes and select physiologic parameters in the American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)

“…The analyzer used is portable which is advantageous in a zoological field setting (Naples et al 2012). An additional advantage of the analyzer is the small volume of blood required and the speed with which results are available (Paula 2006).…”