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Hi Summer,

Marking several thousand fish subcutaneously would be quite labor-intensive.
That said, elastomer has good tag-retention, and certain colors can be seen
without the UV light.  You can use insulin hypodermic needles to inject the
fish. (my colleagues and I have tagged thousands of damselfish less than
20mm).      

The PANJet method would be more efficient, but you should test
tag-retention.  The ink will eventually come off.  (elastomer is also not
permanent and your ability to see the tag will be affected as the fish grows
- the tag separates and shows up as series of small dots).  

Would some kind of fin clip work?  It's virtually free and efficient, but
might be tough on such small fish.

Good luck,
Chris

-- 
Christopher D. Stallings, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory
3618 Highway 98
St. Teresa, FL 32358-2702

phone: (850) 697-4103
fax: (850) 697-3822
email: [log in to unmask]  

-----Original Message-----
From: Scientific forum on fish and fisheries
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Summer Burdick
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 12:18 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PANJet or Elastomer Tags

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We are looking into the possibility of batch marking young of the year fish
30-70 mm SL with an visible implant elastomer or panjet type tattoo.
Unfortunatly we are working with a very limited budget.  The panjet injector
uses cheap latex paint to inject small marks on the fins, whereas the
visible implant elastomer uses a more expensive paint that is visible under
a VI light.  The panjet injectors can be quite expensive (~$500 each).  Has
anyone tried using a simple hypodermic needle to inject latex pain under the
skin of very small fish?  This seems like a very inexpensive way to give
very small fish a short term batch mark.  Or does any one have panjet
injectors that they will not be using this summer, that we may barrow to see
how well they work.  If these turn out to be a viable option for us, then I
am sure we would need to buy some of our own.  Or does anyone have any other
ideas on how to efficiently mark several thousand 30-70 mm fish on a tight
budget?

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