Changes in serum cortisol, metabolites, osmotic pressure and electrolytes in response to different blood sampling procedures in cultured sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.)

Abstract

This study investigated the eect of ®ve sampling procedures on serum cortisol, glucose, total protein, osmolality, Na + , Cl ± , K + and Ca ++ concentrations in 2-year-old cultured sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L).Mild disturbance caused by rapid removal of ®sh and brief handling did not induce signi®cant variation in any of the blood parameters investigated. Con®nement and crowding elicited a high and signi®cant increase in serum cortisol, glucose, osmolality, Na + , Cl ± , and Ca ++ concentrations. Exposure to MS 222 (140 mg L ±1 ) signi®cantly increased osmolality, but not ionic concentration. Site of blood withdrawal (cardiac sinuses/caudal vein) had no eect on the concentration of analysed blood constituents, except for K + levels. Scattered literature of sea bass blood chemistry is reviewed and compared with`normal' ranges of blood constituents measured in this study. We conclude that it is necessary to select and rigorously execute an opportune blood sampling procedure whenever blood constituents are used as indicators of ®sh functional state.

Stress and metabolic indicators in a relatively high (European sea bass,Dicentrarchus labrax) and a low (meagre,Argyrosomus regius) cortisol responsive species, in different water temperatures

“…The concentrations of glucose and lactate were in agreement with previous published data for E. sea bass (Gutierrez et al 1987;Cerda-Reverter et al 1998;Santulli, Modica, Messina, Ceffa, Curatolo, Rivas, Fabi & D'Amelio 1999;Marino et al 2001;Caruso et al 2005 (Chatzifotis, Panagiotidou, Papaioannou, Pavlidis, Nengas & Mylonas 2010;Fanouraki et al 2011), although important fluctuations among samplings were found. In particular, both species showed minimum glucose values in May, as observed in a previous study on E. sea bass (Kavadias et al 2003) which could probably be explained by the feeding conditions, as described for cortisol, since in this species glucose levels correlate positively with daily food intake (Kavadias et al 2003).…”

“…Moreover, a constant increase in cortisol levels was observed in E. sea bass at 0.5 h post stress, and concentrations of both control and stressed fish fit the range of previously published data (Cerda-Reverter, Zanuy, Carrillo & Madrid 1998;Marino, Di Marco, Mandich, Finoia & Cataudella 2001;Rotllant, Ruane, Caballero, Montero & Tort 2003;Caruso, Genovese, Maricchiolo & Modica 2005;Rotllant, Ruane, Dinis, Canario & Power 2006;Di Marco, Priori, Finoia, Massari, Mandich & Marino 2008;Fanouraki, Papandroulakis, Ellis, Mylonas, Scott & Pavlidis 2008;Fanouraki et al 2011;Leal, Fern andez-Dur an, Guillot, R ıos & Cerd a-Reverter 2011;Pascoli et al 2011;Petochi, Di Marco, Priori, Finoia, Mercatali & Marino 2011). In contrast, sampling period seemed to affect the cortisol response, or at least the speed of the acute response, in meagre, since only in the sampling with the highest water temperature (i.e.…”

Early life stress and effects at subsequent stages of development in European sea bass (D. labrax)

“…Our data, based on plasma cortisol, clearly verified that sea bass juveniles are very sensitive to common handling practices and that this may be one explanation for the huge variability in basal cortisol concentrations reported for this species up to date (Cerdá-Reverter et al, 1998;d'Orbcastel et al, 2010;Fanouraki et al, 2011;Fatira et al, 2014;Filiciotto et al, 2012;Maricchiolo et al, 2008;Marino et al, 2001;Peruzzi et al, 2005;Planas et al, 1990;Rotllant et al, 2003Rotllant et al, , 2006Vazzana et al, 2002) and emphasizes the need for the development of new handling procedure for sea bass in order to minimize stress during sampling. Furthermore, whether early life stress has an impact also on the sensitivity to stress at subsequent stages of development, as indicated by the differences observed in cortisol concentrations based on early life history in fish caught by common handling practice, remains to be thoroughly investigated.…”

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

“…In order to reduce stress induced by handling, the 3 fish sampled in each tank were quickly removed from the water and blood immediately collected from the caudal vein by function with a heparinized syringe, without prior anesthesia, according to the protocol proposed by Marino et al (2001) for seabass. Time elapsing from capture to blood collection was \3 min, and all blood samples were collected between 10 and 12 a.m. in order to reduce the potential influence of circadian rhythms on Fish Physiol Biochem the analyzed parameters.…”