Confinement and Water Quality-Induced Stress in Largemouth Bass

Abstract

Plasma values of corticosteroids, glucose, chloride, and osmolality were determined in largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides under various environmental conditions. No differences were observed in quiescent fish due to sex, size, time of day, or the types of holding facilities tested (tanks, raceways, ponds). Differences were observed in plasma glucose, chloride, and osmolality values among fish acclimated to 10, 16, and 23 C. Abrupt temperature changes caused elevations in plasma corticosteroid and glucose concentrations and reduced plasma chloride and osmolality. Confinement in a net, for up to 48 hours, caused elevated glucose and corticosteroids and reduced chloride and osmolality values. After 48 hours of confinement, fish required up to 14 days to recover normal plasma characters. Generally, short-term exposure to poor water quality (high concentrations of CO2 and NHs, and low concentrations of dissolved oxygen) altered plasma corticosteroids and glucose but had little effect on plasma chloride or osmolality. Net confinement plus poor water quality caused additional stress. Plasma glucose and corticosteroid values were good indicators of stress during application of acute stressors whereas chloride and osmolality were useful indicators of long-term stress and patterns of recovery after stressors were removed.

Stress-associated impacts of short-term holding on fishes

“…Another interesting finding from the Cooke et al (2002) study is that the addition of salt and water conditioners more than doubled the time required for cardiac parameters to normalize. These findings point out an interesting contradiction with others that have found stress to be minimized by the addition of salt, water conditioners, and antibacterial agents (Carmichael et al 1984b;Plumb et al 1988;Swanson et al 1996).…”

“…Confinement can refer to either the entire volume of a small tank (Pankhurst and Sharples 1992;Clearwater and Pankhurst 1997;Carey and McCormick 1998;Hobby et al 2000;Fevolden et al 2003) or to a restricting net placed within the larger volume of a tank (Carmichael et al 1984b;Haux and Sjö beck 1985;Strange and Cech 1992;Ruane et al 1999). In either case, confinement causes fish to be in close proximity to one another where the number of fish or biomass per volume (density) may be the same.…”

Locomotory behaviour and post-exercise physiology in relation to swimming speed, gait transition and metabolism in free-swimming smallmouth bass(Micropterus dolomieu)

“…Fish tested in the raceway were acclimated in submerged holding wells that were opaque and completely dark, while those acclimated in the respirometer were exposed to small amounts of ambient (but not direct) sunlight. Carmichael et al (1984) reported that largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) did not become stressed (i.e. hyperglycaemic) when net-confined in the dark, while those tested under lighted conditions showed elevated plasma glucose levels consistent with stress.…”

Effects of Simulated Angler Capture and Live‐Release Tournaments on Walleye Survival

“…However, tournamentcaught fish are held in LWs for up to 8-9 h postcapture, during which they may be subjected to additional stress (Hartley and Moring 1993;Kwak and Henry 1995). Because the effects of sequential stressors tend to be cumulative (Carmichael et al 1984;Barton et al 1986), LW conditions to which fish are confined after being stressed by capture are also likely to affect survival. Schramm et al (2010) found that the survival of Walleyes caught during 14 tournaments spanning the entire open-water Walleye tournament season was correlated with LW temperature and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration.…”