Mystic Aquarium

Mystic Aquarium offers nutritional testing for both routine analysis and research projects.

For further information or to submit samples please contact:

Lisa Mazzaro, PhD
Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration
55 Coogan Blvd.
Mystic CT 06355
Phone: 860-572-5955 x109
Fax: 860-572-5972
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Available Tests:

Vitamin A (Retinol) and Vitamin E (Tocopherol)

Procedure: Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with absorbance detection

Samples accepted: serum, plasma, liver, (some whole prey)

Specimen: 1ml of serum or plasma, 10g liver

Sample storage: -70 until shipment (-20 acceptable for short term storage)

Sample shipment: frozen, preferably on dry ice

Test days: when sufficient number of samples are received

Minimum Test time: 3 days

Proximate Analysis of Fish and Other Seafood Items

Procedure:

Fat: 3 g of sample is homogenized in an Eberbach blender with 30 ml of solvent (2

Chloroform: 1 methanol for herring, mackerel and capelin, 1 chloroform: 1 methanol for squid) for fat extraction (Lee et al. 1996. AOAC 79:487)

Moisture: Oven drying method (over night at 110 C in an air drying oven

Ash: Muffle furnace method

Protein: The balance is used since carbohydrate present is negligible (as proved by the Kjeldahl nitrogen analysis)

Samples accepted: Seafood Items

Specimen: 4 to 6 medium to large whole prey items, 6 to 12 small to medium prey items, sufficient amount of krill or other smaller prey

Sample storage: frozen until pulled for analysis

Sample shipment: Ice packs to keep cool (it’s OK if the samples arrive thawed, but not warm)

Test days: when sufficient number of samples are received

Minimum test time: 3 days

Plasma Catecholamines (epinephrine, nor-epinephrine and dopamine)

Procedure: this test is accomplished by extraction of the analytes from plasma and subsequent analysis by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

Samples accepted: Heparinized plasma only (EDTA plasma and serum are not acceptable). Minimum of 2 ml plasma (4 ml preferred). Smaller samples may be acceptable depending on species and expected stress level.

Specimen Preparation and Storage:  Specimen should be centrifuged and frozen (-70) within one hour. Refrigerated centrifuge is preferred but not required.

Sample shipment:  Overnight on dry ice

Test days: When sufficient numbers of samples are received

Minimum test time: 1 month