Digifish™ RFID Fish Tracking Tags

Glass transponders and other RFID fish tracking tags have a form factor that is often incompatible with the smallest size classes of many commonly studied fish, as well as the physiology of many delicate species. Other conventional marking methods for these fish fail to offer unique individual identification.

To address the problems related to identification of fish during preclinical and environmental research, Somark began the independent testing of the suitability of our tag for RFID fish tracking.

To ensure accurate and welfare-friendly tracking, there are several important considerations:
• Tag size: Must be suitable for the fish’s mass and species to avoid stress or injury.
• Rapid and accurate injection technique: Proper administration ensures the tag remains secure, and the fish stays healthy.
• Tag reading: UHF tags cannot be read underwater, so tags must be removed from the water for scanning. Using our recommended readers ensures the most accurate and consistent reading of tag numbers.
• Anesthesia: To reduce risk of injury to fish, it is generally recommended to anesthetize for tagging and collection of measurements. Anesthesia is not required for subsequent scanning of tags, which can be done quickly and effectively with the fish contained in an aquarium net.

The compliance of our RFID fish tracking solution can streamline internal practices, which often vary from facility to facility. Digifish is an ideal solution for the accurate identification of each research subject ruling out ID related stress whilst enriching the natural behaviours of laboratory fish in biomedical research programs.

Features
Digifish is the world’s smallest RFID tag, specifically designed to prioritize animal welfare.It is 16 times smaller than the typical glass transponder found for RFID tracking in fisheries research settings, and far less invasive than common fish tagging routes.
The tag is 6mm long, 0.5mm wide and only 0.25mm high. The impressive 0.75mm volume is what makes our tag remarkably suitable for the RFID fish tracking of species such as zebrafish. The monitoring of juvenile life stages of many fish species has proved difficult previously with no reliable options for RFID fish tagging with unique identifiers.
The tag has a permanent 24-character ID which can be read by a UHF reader. The injector needles are provided pre-loaded which ensures that the process of applying Digifish to your school/shole is quick, reliable and can be conducted by even novice technicians and researchers.

Please contact us at for specific academic pricing.