Cabot Megan L, Troan Brigid V, Ange-van Heugten Kimberly, Schnellbacher Rodney W, Smith Dustin, Ridgley Frank, Minter Larry J
Department of Clinical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA.
North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, NC 27205, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2021 Nov 14;11(11):3255. doi: 10.3390/ani11113255.
Passive integrated transponder (PIT) and visible implant elastomer (VIE) tags are commonly used to identify reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Despite reports of good retention rates and little to no negative effect on survival time, migration remains a concern and histologic changes have not been widely evaluated. Fifty-six wild-caught marine toads () were marked with a PIT tag in the left caudal thigh and a VIE tag over the right gastrocnemius muscle prior to transport to the North Carolina Zoo. Fourteen toads were then humanely euthanized on day 9, 15, 32, and 62 for postmortem examination and histopathology which were compared to 10 control toads with no tags. All PIT tags were functional and 95% remained at the insertion site with minimal to no histologic changes. Externally, 48% of VIE tags were visible through the skin at the original site of injection under fluorescent or UV light. Upon gross examination of the tissues, VIE tags had an overall retention rate of 62% at the injection site, with similar retention rates across time points. Migrated VIE material was visible grossly and histologically in the kidneys of 98% of toads and along the right leg, proximally and distally, in 25% of toads. VIE material was also found sporadically in mesentery, colon, and free in the coelomic cavity. Histologically, VIE material in the skin was surrounded by minimal to mild granulomatous inflammation while in the kidney it was associated with dilation of the small vessels, edema, and granulomatous nephritis that progressed in severity over time. Based on these findings, the authors recommend the use of PIT tags over VIE tags for identification of adult anurans, when feasible.
被动集成应答器（PIT）标签和可见植入式弹性体（VIE）标签常用于识别爬行动物、两栖动物和鱼类。尽管有报告称其留存率良好，对生存时间几乎没有负面影响，但迁移问题仍然令人担忧，且组织学变化尚未得到广泛评估。56只野生捕获的海蟾蜍在被运往北卡罗来纳州动物园之前，在左尾大腿处植入了一个PIT标签，并在右腓肠肌上标记了一个VIE标签。然后，在第9天、15天、32天和62天对14只蟾蜍实施安乐死以进行尸检和组织病理学检查，并与10只未标记的对照蟾蜍进行比较。所有PIT标签均功能正常，95%保留在插入部位，组织学变化极小或无变化。在荧光或紫外线下，从外部观察，48%的VIE标签在注射的原始部位透过皮肤可见。对组织进行大体检查时，VIE标签在注射部位的总体留存率为62%，各时间点的留存率相似。在98%的蟾蜍肾脏中，以及在25%的蟾蜍右下肢近端和远端，肉眼和组织学检查均可见迁移的VIE物质。在肠系膜、结肠以及体腔中也偶尔发现VIE物质。组织学上，皮肤中的VIE物质周围有轻微至轻度的肉芽肿性炎症，而在肾脏中，它与小血管扩张、水肿以及随着时间推移严重程度逐渐增加的肉芽肿性肾炎有关。基于这些发现，作者建议在可行的情况下，使用PIT标签而非VIE标签来识别成年无尾两栖动物。
