- photo by Elizabeth Zimmermann, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs
Students in Rochester, Minnesota, are studying zebrafish as part of Integrated Science Education Outreach (InSciEd Out). The program has brought teachers from all disciplines together to create a new curriculum that allows “the language of science to emerge in multiple contexts throughout the [school] day,” explains InSciEd Out’s coordinator, Chris Pierret. InSciEd Out’s success has brought it national attention and praise from President Obama, as you’ll read in this NSTA Reports story.
The zebrafish is omnivorous. It primarily eats zooplankton, insects, insect larvae, and phytoplankton. It can eat a variety of other foods, such as worms and small crustaceans, if its preferred sources are not readily available. Most danios accept common food flakes and tubifex worms in the aquarium. Thanks.
The leopard danio, previously known as Danio frankei, is a spotted colour morph of the zebrafish caused by a pigment mutation. Xanthistic forms of both the zebra and leopard pattern, along with long-finned subspecies, have been obtained via selective breeding programs for the aquarium trade. Thanks.