Fishy Business

Yesterday, we carried out our third diet trial harvest of yellowtail kingfish.

People often ask me what kind of fish we carry out experiments with, and what they look like. To satisfy the curiosity of those who haven't seen the fish before, we've worked with :

Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tiny aquarium fish with black and white stripes (hence the name 'zebra'). See how small they are compared to our fingers. They're superbly hyper-active though... it's not relaxing looking at them, you're more likely to feel exhausted watching them dart all over the tank. Heh.

Yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi)

Torpedo-shaped fish, about the length of your forearm. They are muscular fish, rich in fish oils, with firm white muscle. The flesh is sashimi-grade stuff (yum :)

Southern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)

Big fish... that's right, they're huge. Hold both your arms apart, and that's approximately the length of an adult! Tuna aren't small fish, which is the impression that most people get because of the tiny cans they buy at supermarkets :) They have beautifully red flesh, and the quality cuts can sell for up to $60 per kg in Japanese markets, which is why we're helping to look into improving their flesh quality... To the fisheries people, it's all about profitability.


Therefore, we spent the whole of yesterday at SARDI's aquatic facility in WestBeach from 7am to 4pm, collecting muscle and liver samples from the kingfish for RNA extraction and enzyme analysis. Had to get flesh samples, histology samples, blood samples, white blood cells, and stomach samples from 120 fish, and we were all exhausted at the end of the day.


Which brings to mind another question that people often ask me :

' You're probably sick of seeing, experimenting, and handling the fish so much. Do you still eat fish? '

My answer?

I had fish for dinner on Wednesday, for lunch yesterday, as well as today :)

Few things can deter the carnivore in me. Especially when it comes to good quality sashimi ;) Heh.