The Experimental Fish is an online Moodle training program for people who "use" fish in research, teaching and testing applications. The course syllabus closely follows the core topics outlined in the Canadian Council on Animal Care's National Institional Aquatic Animal User Training Program with special reference to aquatic animals. This program reviews not only regulatory and ethical issues involved in experimental animal use but also the practical aspects of aquatic animal care.
For institutions that are provide training programs for animal user staff, this course in combination with wet-lab demonstrations will provide a complete user training program.
Click here for the French version - Les Poissons d'Expérimentation
Also Available:
The Experimental Fish - U.S. Version
This version include modules on American animal welfare legislation and regulatory systems, IACUC roles and responsibilities, and other issues of specific concern pertaining to fish research in the United States.
View full U.S. Course Syllabus
Estimated Course Completion Time: This course is estimated to take approximately 5 hours to complete. However, students are given a 1 month access period to the course material so that they might work at their own pace and schedule.
This online course includes article reviews, discussion boards, and online quizzes. On successful completion of the course, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion.
Note: This course is a non-credit course.
Minimum System Requirements:
Software Requirements
Our online courses are designed to be viewed with both Netscape 4.76, 6.2x and 7.0 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.x. We do not support earlier browsers at this time.
This program includes 6 modules on the following topics:
View full Canadian Course Syllabus
View full U.S. Course Syllabus
The Experimental Fish will instruct participants on:
The Experimental Fish will be of value to anyone who care for or use fish for research, teaching or testing purposes including researchers, technical research staff, animal care technicians, veterinarians, aquarium staff, and teachers. This course does not have any prerequisites and is open to everyone.
The following excerpts are taken from Module 5: Aquatic Animal Care and Husbandry:
Excerpt from Aquatic Animal Holding Facilities:
"Analogous to the life support systems employed in human medicine, laboratory aquatic animals holding systems rely exclusively on mechanical devices to maintain the environmental conditions necessary to keep the animals alive and healthy. As critical to a patient being kept alive by a ventilator or a dialysis machine, so are the pumps and filters on a system housing aquatic animals. Most laboratory housing systems are essentially artificially created ecosystems. These ecosystems are as fragile as any found in nature and must be maintained properly to ensure a healthy environment for all inhabitants. Keeping aquatic animals in a laboratory setting can be very challenging to those responsible for these delicate and, for the most part wild animals. Each species has its unique environmental, nutritional and care requirements. Many species used in research are totally aquatic; living their entire life cycle in a chemically complex watery medium. This medium provides the oxygen and many of the micronutrients they need to thrive and reproduce. By flushing away metabolic wastes, the water also serves to maintain homeostasis and provides the fluids and salts required for osmoregulation. As most aquatic animals used in research are ectothermic, the temperatures of the system in which the animals are being held dictate the rate of these physiological functions as well as immunilogical fitness. Laboratory holding systems vary in size and complexity. The choice of system is dependent on many factors. Species, environmental requirements, study design and budgets mostly dictate the selection of systems. The following is an overview of laboratory housing systems and common operational issues associated with maintaining these systems..."
Excerpt from Interdependence of Health Factors for Aquatic Animals:
"Holding and maintaining fin-fish species usually involves difficulties associated with husbandry of both the early life-stages and the actively growing stages. Under conditions of confinement in an artificial environment, fish are sensitive to variations in water quality, nutrition, presence of the pathogen and the management practices of the facility. The expression of disease however, be it infectious or non-infectious, cannot be considered in isolation from the conditions of management in the aquatic facility. Problems associated with poor water quality or inadequate nutrition will result in the fish becoming more susceptible to disease. Despite the ubiquitous distribution of micro-organisms in the aquatic environment their expression may only be obvious under suboptimal environmental conditions. A balance exists between the fish and its environment and if an imbalance occurs then disease can result. It has been proposed that 95% of all infectious fish diseases are predisposed by one or more environmental conditions..."
There are no deadlines for registration for this course. Students may register at any time and complete the course at their own pace during the 1 month access period.
Registration Fee
Registration fees are subject to 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Canadian Dollars: $90 + 5% GST = $94.50 CAD
See below for volume-based discount information.
To Register:
Complete and submit a Registration Form (online or pdf format).
Note: After you complete and submit your online registration by clicking SAVE at the end of the form, you should receive a confirmation email from the Canadian Aquaculture Institute. If you do not receive this email within a day of your registration, please fax your registration information to 1-902-566-0451. CAI regrets any incovenience that this may cause.
Institutions or organizations that register more than 19 people for The Experimental Fish on an annual basis are entitled to discounts on the registration fee. The following prices are subject to 5% GST.
Prices listed are per participant.
| # of Participants | CND $ |
| 1 - 19 | $90.00 |
| 20 - 39 (10% Discount) | $81.00 |
| 40+ (20% Discount) | $72.00 |
Please contact the Canadian Aquaculture Institute for more information on payment arrangements for groups.
Payment: Payment may be made by cheque, Visa or Mastercard. Once payment has been received, the fee cannot be refunded. Please do not submit payment information unless you intend to take the course.
On receipt of payment, you will receive an email with the instructions and enrolment key to begin the course. You will also receive instructions on how to use the Moodle site.
For more information about this course, contact:
Canadian Aquaculture Institute
Centre for Life-Long Learning
550 University Avenue
Charlottetown, PE Canada
C1A 4P3
Tel: (902) 566-0336
lifelong@upei.ca
Centre for Life-Long Learning
