Anesthesia of wild female Persian sturgeon,Acipenser persicus(Borodin, 1897) breeders during controlled propagation: effects on hematological parameters, stress response and reproductive performance

Abstract

This study examined the effects of anesthesia on the hematological and biochemical parameters as well as the reproductive performance of wild female Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus, during controlled spawning. Fourteen mature females were divided into two groups: 'anesthetized' and 'non-anesthetized'. All activities including transportation, catheterizing and handling were performed with both groups: (i) under anesthesia (150 ppm clove oil), and (ii) without anesthesia. After 10 days storage and handling, blood samples were taken from all fish after anesthesia. No significant differences were found in the reproductive performance of either group. However, differences were found in the hematological parameters, with values being significantly higher in the non-anesthetized group, including neutrophils (34.36 AE 6.33% vs 23.63 AE 5.22%), monocytes (2.84 AE 1.70% vs 1.27 AE 0.64%), mean corpuscular volume (321.3 AE 39.40 pg vs 228.0 AE 24.46 pg) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (106.9 AE 15.70 fl vs 76.50 AE 7.50 fl). Significantly lower values were found in the non-anesthetized group for lymphocytes (60.68 AE 7.25% vs 73.54 AE 4.80%), Hb (4.62 AE 0.74 mg dl À1 vs 6.28 AE 1.21 mg dl À1 ), Hct (13.86 AE 1.76% vs 18.84 AE 3.85%), red blood cell (0.43 AE 0.05 cell mm À3 vs 0.85 AE 0.13 9 10 6 cell mm À3 ) and white blood cell (22 403 AE 2240 cell mm À3 vs 35 318 AE 3084 cell mm À3 ). The non-anesthetized fish had significantly higher cortisol levels compared to the anesthetized group (62.33 AE 8.85 ng ml À1 vs 46.12 AE 8.07 ng ml À1 ). There was no difference in plasma glucose levels between groups. It is concluded that the use of clove oil as an anesthetic is suitable for handling of wild female Persian sturgeon in controlled propagation programmes. However, further research is needed to determine a standardized protocol for the safe application of anesthesia for use in sturgeons in general.

Assessment of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil as a natural anesthetic and sodium bicarbonate as a sedative on physiological and histopathological status of Tilapia zilli during the transport practices

“…In the same trend, Akar (2011) found Mediterranean Aquaculture Journal 2023 10 (2):1-13 that control group showed an increase in plasma cortisol levels when compared with both unstressed and transported fish blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus) in bags containing clove oil. Mazandarani et al (2015) the nonanesthetized female fish of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) had significantly higher cortisol levels than those anesthetized with clove oil. Changes in the activity of the enzymes that signal liver health in the blood plasma might be a good predictor of stress since the liver is a prominent marker for the endocrine activity that supports fish deal with problems physiologically.…”