Parasite treatment kills fish at Texas aquarium

KIII-TV, Corpus Christi, Texas

Show Caption Hide Caption Hundreds of fish dead in exhibit tank at Texas aquarium Hundreds of fish including sharks died in an exhibit tank at the Texas State Aquarium during a parasite treatment procedure.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A treatment used to control a parasite problem at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi led to the deaths of hundreds of fish from three exhibits, officials said Wednesday.

According to a statement from the aquarium, all but two fish from the aquarium's Islands of Steel exhibit died after the treatment.

Aquarium representatives said they added medicine to the water after a parasite was detected inside a tank. Officials said they tested the medicine beforehand in a smaller thank with no adverse reactions.

Late Tuesday night, workers noticed that the fish were dying and called for additional help to try and save the animals.

The aquarium's website said the Islands of Steel exhibit housed "nurse sharks, green moray eels, spadefish, amberjack, tarpon, grouper, and even a sand tiger shark" in a 125,000-gallon tank.

"Islands of Steel is our largest indoor exhibit, and it represents an underwater view of the habitat formed around an oil platform," reads the exhibit's description.

Aquarium representatives said that the incident also affected the Flower Gardens and Lionfish exhibits. They said water samples will be tested to find out what killed the fish.