Assessment of blood chemistry reference values for cultured sturgeon hybrids (Acipenser naccarii female × Acipenser baerii male)

Abstract

Summary Blood chemistry profiles of cultured sturgeon hybrids Acipenser naccarii female × Acipenser baerii male were assessed in order to acquire basic data for evaluating fish health status on‐farm. Sixty healthy fish (11.0 ± 3.2 Kg weight; 117.8 ± 8.6 cm total length) were randomly captured from 600 m3 concrete tanks and sampled from April to June. Blood samples were analyzed for the following 22 biochemical parameters using standard clinical methods: cortisol, glucose, lactate, non esterified fatty acids, triglycerides, cholesterol, albumin, creatinine, urea, total bilirubin, total protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatine phosphokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. Biochemical values were found to be consistent with data from the parental species A. naccarii. Cortisol, cholesterol, albumin, urea, total bilirubin, CK, LDH and magnesium were significantly affected by sampling time and the differences are probably related to sexual maturation of the fish. Blood chemistry analyses afforded an accurate evaluation of sturgeons’ health status, also providing information on their reproductive conditions. Evidence resulting from cortisol and lactate values indicated that pre‐sampling operations, including capture and confinement of these large‐sized fish, must be carefully managed in order to minimize handling stress. This study provides knowledge on blood chemistry of hybrid sturgeon A. naccarii × A. baerii and the results corroborate the validity of the test panel performed in evaluating the physiological functions of sturgeons. Reference values for 22 biochemical parameters were identified for the purpose of evaluating health and welfare in cultured sturgeons.

Reference intervals for haematological and plasma biochemical parameters in sobaity sea bream juveniles (Sparidentex hasta, Valenciennes 1830)

“…Plasma non-specific enzyme activities have been associated with liver damage, stress, disease or toxic chemical exposure and are characterized by a wide range of variations among fish species (Wagner and Congleton 2004;Obomanu et al 2009;Yu et al 2010;Kashkooli et al 2011;Di Marco et al 2011). Alkaline phosphatase is a cell-membraneassociated glycoprotein enzyme, and its presence in plasma depends on the balance between leakage from cells and removal from the plasma (Wagner and Congleton 2004).…”

“…However, standard reference intervals are lacking for most aquaculture fish species. Standard reference intervals have been established for some fish species, such as gilthead sea bream, European sea bass, dojo loach, Amur sturgeon and skipjack, yellowfin and bluefin tuna (Svoboda et al 2001;De Pedro et al 2005;Coz-Rakovac et al 2005;Knowles et al 2006;Tavares-Dias and Moraes 2007;Zhou et al 2009;Cao and Wang 2010;Di Marco et al 2011;Peres et al 2013). A scarce number of studies on haematological and biochemical parameters were conducted in sparid fish species, including gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) (Yildiz 2009;Peres et al 2013;Fazio et al 2013) common dentex (Dentex dentex) (Yildiz 2009), striped sea bream (Lithognathus mormyrus) (Yildiz 2009), saddled bream (Oblada melanura) (Ferri et al 2011), yellowfin sea bream (Acanthopagrus latus) (Karimi et al 2013;Akbari 2014) and black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) (Chang et al 2007).…”

Blood chemistry profile as indicator of nutritional status in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)

“…Up to now, clinical hematology and biochemical reference values were determined for only a few aquaculture fish species, including dojo loach; Amur sturgeon; skipjack, yellowfin and bluefin tuna (Svoboda et al 2001;De Pedro et al 2005;Coz-Rakovac et al 2005;Knowles et al 2006;Tavares-Dias and Moraes 2007;Zhou et al 2009;Cao and Wang 2010;Di Marco et al 2011). Available data on biochemistry parameters in fish were recently compiled by Peres et al (2013), and data on hematology parameters were compiled by Hrubec and Smith (2010).…”

Species and sex-specific variation in the antioxidant status of tench, Tinca tinca; wels catfish, Silurus glanis; and sterlet, Acipenser ruthenus (Actinopterygii) reared in cage culture

“…) and hybrids of Adriatic sturgeon, Acipenser naccarii Bonaparte, 1836 × Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baeri Brandt, 1869 than to presented here sterlet (0.14 ± 0.06-0.30 mg · L -1 for female and 0.15 ± 0.04-0.26 mg · L -1 for male) (Shahsavani et al 2010, Di Marco et al 2011). In pathological cases associated with fish exposure to toxins or improperly balanced feed, increased the level of bilirubin is linked to higher activity of LDH but such dependence was not observed for sterlet (Roy and Bhattacharya 2006).…”

“…However, there are reports presenting an opposite relation (Yousefian et al 2010). The different albumin levels in both sexes depend on the degree of sexual maturity, and the length of time during which females and males become ready for spawning in a given season (Di Marco et al 2011). The tench females (2+ years) reach sexual maturity in the third year and prepare for spawning in the spring and summer, during the gradual increase of water temperature (Macrì et al 2011).…”