@article{dreyfuss_geyer_stamper_baldessari_lewbart_2014, title={Zinc toxicosis in a brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis Mitchill}, volume={37}, ISSN={["1365-2761"]}, DOI={10.1111/jfd.12130}, abstractNote={Zinc toxicosis has been well documented in virtually all vertebrate groups (Ackerman et al. 1990; Droual, Meteyer & Galey 1991; Zdziarski et al. 1994). To our knowledge, no literature has addressed the subject of acute zinc toxicosis in fish due to an ingested foreign body. Research has focused on zinc toxicoses due to dissolved or water-borne zinc sulphate (Holcombe, Benoit & Leonard 1979). This case report describes an instance of apparent zinc toxicosis in a captive brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis Mitchill, which had ingested a 1995 U.S. penny. A 0.486-kg adult male brook trout of approximately 2–3 years of age presented to the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU-CVM), Raleigh, NC, USA, for the evaluation of a cranial mass and a history of moderate lethargy and inappetence for several weeks. On physical examination, the fish appeared sluggish and had a 1.0 9 1.5 cm raised lesion on the right side of its head, caudal to the eye. The right eye was slightly exophthalmic. The fish had been housed in a mixed species indoor artificial freshwater stream exhibit with conspecifics from the same hatchery (Armstrong State Fish Hatchery), rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), and brown trout, Salmo trutta L., at a regional life science museum. The exhibit showcased a 5-m waterfall that emptied into an upper 3-m-long pool. Water flowed from the upper to the lower pool via a 3-m by 0.3-m-deep stream. The affected trout was housed in the upper pool, where a number of coins were noted on the bottom of the exhibit. Coins were typically removed weekly with a net, unless they were unreachable, in which case they were removed during the draining and cleaning of the tanks once per year. Brook trout were fed Purina Game Fish Chow (Purina Mills, LLC) once daily. The fish was anaesthetized at the NCSU-CVM in an induction tank with 150 mg L 1 tricaine methanesulfonate (TRICAINE-S; Western Chemical, Inc., buffered 1:1 sodium bicarbonate), and a biopsy of the raised cranial lesion was obtained for histopathology. The fish was then moved to a recovery tank holding anaesthetic-free water until a righting reflex was observed. Biopsy results and analysis of fluid from retrobulbar space indicated a nerve sheath tumour. No action was taken at the time to completely excise the tumour. Ten days following the anaesthesia and biopsy procedure, the trout’s condition deteriorated, and the fish was killed with an overdose of tricaine methanesulfonate (400 mg L ). On necropsy, the significant gross findings included a corneal abrasion of the right eye, pale gills and flesh, ‘waterylike’ cardiac blood and the presence of a partially corroded 1995 penny in the stomach. A fresh liver sample was homogenized and tested using atomic Correspondence G A Lewbart, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 1060 William Moore Drive, Raleigh, NC 27607, USA (e-mail: greg_lewbart@ncsu.edu) *Present address: Department of Education and Science Disney’s Animals, Science and Environment, Walt Disney World Resorts , EC Trl. W-251, 2016 North Avenue of the Stars, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000, USA. †Present address: Washington National Primate Research Center, University of WA, Seattle, WA98195, USA.}, number={4}, journal={JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES}, author={Dreyfuss, J. and Geyer, J. and Stamper, M. A. and Baldessari, A. and Lewbart, G. A.}, year={2014}, month={Apr}, pages={397–399} }