With all but the very largest species, the best way to ship fish is in a plastic bag filled with water and oxygen and packed into a styrofoam insulated container. Special purpose square-bottomed bags should be used (see Table 1) as fish get trapped in the seams of conventional bags available in the laboratory. The general procedure is to fill the transport bag about half full with the fish's original water of permanent residence, inflate the rest of the bag with oxygen or compressed air, and tie off with a rubber band so that no oxygen or water can escape. The bag should be fully inflated (unless fish are being shipped by air cargo), so that it is tight,
almost like a balloon. At least one more bag should be put over the first bag and also secured by a rubber band. Special
precautions should be taken when spiny fishes are transported as they may puncture the bag. Newspapers between the inner and outer bags may help. Once the bags are prepared, they can then be closely packed flat in the styrofoam fish box, which can be put inside a larger plastic bag, placed in the cardboard outer box, and then sealed. A styrofoam box can be placed on a frozen ice block while shipping cold water species. A good conservative packing job should maintain fish for 12 to 24 hours. Such containers can be sent by air freight and should be appropriately labeled. Multipurpose transport boxes commonly used by the Aquarium of the
Americas are good for 48-72 hour transports (Schaeffer and others 1992). If possible, it is advisable to limit the transport
time to under 24 hours by express shipping.