A ravenous rattle who earned a somewhat unflattering nickname "Whale Killer," is counted among the popular and audience grateful aquarium fish keepers. At present, OrcaHome has about 60 people in human care, about 100,000 more freely in the oceans. Of the six dozen reared specimens, half of them and 29 of them live in aquariums in the United States and Spain. In spite of the otherwise seamless access to food and their undoubted popularity, these kites in captivity definitely do not get better. It's their teeth.
The raccoon is 45-56, roughly 7.6 inches long and 3 centimeters in diameter. These sharp spikes, adapted to lap and tear a wide range of fleshy prey, are very similar to human teeth. And, of course, you can live to see how far your well-being can erect a single painful tooth. "What must fish aquariums do," says Professor John Jett, a former coach and groom caress who lectures today at Stetson University, Florida. "Virtually every one of the twenty-nine specimens we examined had dentition at a certain degree of damage. We found that 65% of them suffered from moderate to extreme dental wear. "
How did the killers in human care come to him? "It is mostly the result of biting the concrete and steel surfaces of breeding tanks and overflow gates," explains Jett. The damage itself, which leads to a physical disruption of the denture structure, is only the beginning of the painful problems of the irises. "Approximately 61% of the killer we observed was already a dentist, more precisely, so-called modified pulpotomy," says Jett. What does it involve? Boring the tooth and removing soft tissue inside. While this procedure can remove tooth decay in the first step, but in contrast to similar dental performance in humans, the kisses will not get a new fill from their dentist.
Co-author of the study, dentist Carolina Loch, from New Zealand University in Otago, describes what it is. "An open tooth has to be washed regularly by cleaning chemicals to get rid of food and bacteria. Yet, secondary infections are very common, the stenciled teeth remain an entry gate for bacteria. And once the tooth is so broken, it breaks down. " There are often a lot of tooth fragments on the bottom of the water tank and cleaning filters.
Jeff Ventre, a veterinarian who previously worked in marine aquariums like dentistry, knows about it. "Damage to teeth is one of the most tragic consequences of their breeding in captivity. It not only leads to higher morbidity and mortality, but also to chronic antibiotic therapy. In it, the killers are given daily substances that remove their body from the bacteria but permanently immune their immune system. "This reminds of the fate of a killer named Kasatka who died in August in the Sea World aquarium in San Diego.
Ventre, along with colleagues, equally adds that the deformed claw-eared kites can "hardly be considered as candidates for a total omission into the oceans . " Those who have not spent their lives in captivity do not have such difficulties with their teeth. "When you take into account how big the tooth is, and the fact that it has a similar nervous system as we do, the pain it experiences is stunning," says Loch. Together, the researchers see a crucial argument in a dental exploration conducted by them, which underlines the cruel uselessness of sea aquarium practices .
Author: Radomír Dohnal
Source: Ekolist.cz
