Clinical Care

Pet Fish

If you are a pet fish owner in need of diagnostic services, you should contact a local veterinarian or make an appointment with the Zoological Medicine department in the UF Small Animal Hospital, University of Florida, Gainesville, by calling 352-392-2235.

Click here to find an aquatic veterinarian

Aquaculture

The Fish Health Laboratory is within the Program of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in Gainesville, FL, and is supervised by Dr. Denise Petty. The laboratory offers diagnostic support to Florida aquaculture producers and assists county agents.

The Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory is located in Ruskin, FL, and is supervised by Dr. Ray Yanong. This laboratory offers diagnostic support to Florida aquaculture producers.

Both laboratories require submission of a separate water sample in addition to sick fish. Click here for information on how to properly collect fish and water samples.

Diagnostic services are not free; please contact the laboratory for pricing:
Gainesville: Dr. Denise Petty, 352-273-3612
Ruskin: Debbie Pouder, 813- 671-5230 x106

Contracts for Clinical Care

The College of Veterinary Medicine’s Aquatic Animal Health Program provides clinical support for facilities that are committed to development of state of the art health care programs for aquatic collections that may include mammals, fish, and sea turtles. Currently this involves Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida. This facility houses a variety of animals that have been rescued but because of a number of health factors can not be returned to the wild. This partnership provides experience and training in marine mammal health care for our aquatic animal resident and students. It can also support animal friendly research projects that are geared toward improving the health care and husbandry of rehabilitated animals.

Please contact Dr. Mike Walsh for more information on these services.

Non-Contract Clinical Support

Where facilities do not require full assistance in the maintenance and development of clinical programs we can provide additional assistance with clinical visits for support during development of new programs or to aid in special procedures requiring additional expertise in clinical care issues, diagnostic, anesthesia and surgical support with our colleagues in these specialty services.

Please contact Dr. Mike Walsh for more information on these services.