Recent News

Report oil spills to help protect wildlife
Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Environmentalists have urged the public to report marine oil spills as quickly as possible to prevent them causing serious damage to the Island’s wildlife.


Zoo welcomes two new residents
Wednesday, September 23, 2015

The duo, both 6 years old, spent a month in quarantine in Bermuda before they were released into their new home.


Bat is nursed back to health with Gatorade
Friday, September 18, 2015

A stricken bat was nursed back to health by zoo staff after it was found on a construction site.


‘Ocean Vet’ captures Burnie’s spirit
Tuesday, September 08, 2015

The Ocean Vet series due to hit some of the world’s top networks next year is “just the beginning” according to the show’s Choy Aming.


Regiment joins forces with conservation effort
Saturday, September 05, 2015

The Royal Bermuda Regiment Underwater Taskforce has joined forces with environmentalists for a marine conservation effort to map the reefs off Elbow Beach.



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Latest News

All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!

Parrotfish Checkup
Bermuda Zoological Society
Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Excerpt from WILD News April 2018

When new fish arrive at BAMZ, they must first undergo a minimum of 30 days quarantine in order to diagnose any marine parasites which, if left untreated, can infect the other inhabitants of the aquarium hall tanks.

On Thursday, 22nd March, Patrick Talbot, Curator of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, with the assistance of Marine Collector, Jorge Sanchez, conducted the examination of the quarantined blue parrotfish, queen parrotfish, and rainbow parrotfish before their transfer into the display tanks.


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Blue parrotfish going under anesthetic
 

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Blue parrotfish being removed from anesthetic

Before each fish was examined, they were first anesthetized in a solution rendering them unconscious and insensible to any pain. The length of time it took for each fish to go to sleep, was also the approximate amount of time it would remain sedated, giving Mr. Talbot an idea of how much time he had to take samples from the fish.


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Blue parrotfish having its gills clipped
 

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Queen parrotfish going under anesthetic

Each fish went through the same procedure; after sedation, they were removed from the water and placed on a cushion wrapped in plastic. Mr. Talbot quickly took a scale scrape, and a gill clipping - basically taking a sample of the skin mucous covering the scales and a tiny gill biopsy. The fish was then placed in a tub of fresh water, and Mr. Sanchez bubbled oxygen in the water surrounding the gills. The fresh water acted as final medication of sorts, as it would kill most external parasites (should there be any) and the bubbled gas helped ensure the fish had oxygen during its recovery from the anesthetic. After a few minutes, the animal was responsive and returned to a separate tank to await results of the procedure.

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Rainbow parrotfish being measured
 

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Mr. Sanchez running oxygen over the Rainbow parrotfish gills to aid in its recovery from the anesthetic
 

Once all the fish were sampled, Mr. Talbot took the scale scrapings and the gill clippings into the laboratory to be examined under a microscope for parasites infections, such as protozoa. If a parasite was found on either sample, the fish would have to go through another two weeks of quarantine and further treatment.

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Gill clippings on a slide ready to be examined under a microscope
 

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Gill clippings being examined
 

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400x magnification of gill clippings
 

Thankfully, upon completion of the examination, all three fish were parasite free and received a clean bill of health. The queen and blue parrotfish were placed in the parrotfish habitat in the Aquarium Hall, and the rainbow parrotfish was placed in the North Rock habitat.

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Rainbow parrotfish in the North Rock habitat
 

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Queen parrotfish in the parrotfish habitat