Comparative study of haematology of two teleost fish (Mugil cephalus and Carassius auratus) from different environments and feeding habits

Abstract

Haematological parameters are valuable indicators of fish health status. This study is aimed to provide baseline data of the blood profile of two teleost fish species living in different environments and with divergent feeding behaviour, namely the flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus Linnaeus, 1758, a marine herbivorous fish, and the goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758), a freshwater omnivorous fish. Using an automated system coupled with flow cytometry and light microscopy, significant variations were found between M. cephalus and C. auratus blood parameters, except for haemoglobin concentration (Hgb). A significant increase in red blood cell count (RBC) and haematocrit (Hct) levels, associated with reduced mean corpuscular volume (MCV), was revealed in mullets in respect to goldfish. These data may be attributable to differences in fish species, or to their divergent physiological activeness as high RBC values are associated with fast movement and high activity with streamlined bodies, or to environmental factors such as water salinity, an increase in which may lead to erythropoiesis as an adaptive process in seawater fish. Additionally, lower values of white blood cell count (WBC) and thrombocyte count (TC) were recorded in mullets with respect to goldfish, and these changes may be due to divergent feeding habits of the two fish species, or to their different environments since increased salinity may inversely affect WBC. Overall, findings from this study provide a better understanding of the influences of divergent environmental conditions and feeding habits on fish blood parameters. The combined use of an automatic haematological count with flow cytometry was demonstrated to be effective for an early assessment of blood parameters in different fish species.

Evaluation of Dietary Organic and Inorganic Mercury Threshold Levels on Induced Mercury Toxicity in a Marine Fish Model

“…Hematological parameters are mostly used as the potential indicators for the assessment of fish health status [43]. Blood serological characteristics of juvenile olive flounder fed various concentrations of organic and inorganic mercury-incorporated diets showed insignificant effects on some metabolites such as total protein, AST, ALT and cholesterol from fish in all experimental diets.…”

“…Five euthanized fish from each aquarium (15 fish per treatment) were randomly collected for the analysis of fish blood biochemistry [43]. Fish blood samples were taken from the caudal vein with heparinized plastic syringes.…”

Modulatory effect of lipopolysaccharide on immune‐related gene expression and serum protein fractionation in grey mullet,Mugil cephalus

“…Changes in blood components or profile are used for studying body responses in varied conditions (e.g. different habitats or feeding) in many fish species, including M. cephalus (Cray et al, ; Parrino et al, ; Xue, Renault, Cochennec, & Gerard, ). Serum protein fractionation—changes in band numbers, sizes or density—is a good tool, used profusely to determine changes in immunity, as well as an indicator for changes in environments and habitats (Christiansen, Cray, Lewbart, & Harms, ; Fazio et al, ; Muhammad, Mahmoud, Fazio, & Sayed, ; Thurston, ; Xue et al, ).…”

“…Changes in blood components or profile are used for studying body responses in varied conditions (e.g. different habitats or feeding) in many fish species, including M. cephalus Parrino et al, 2018;Xue, Renault, Cochennec, & Gerard, 2000).…”

The Impact of a Fish Cannery Wastewater Discharge on the Bacterial Community Structure and Sanitary Conditions of Marine Coastal Sediments

“…In particular, fish and molluscs, when exposed to foreign potentially pathogenic microbes, can display various negative immune responses proteins [10][11][12].…”