Normal haematological and blood biochemistry values of cultured Heteroclarias hybrid in South East Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the normal haematological and blood biochemistry profile of apparently healthy cultured hybrid catfish Heteroclarias reared in concrete ponds in South East Nigeria. A total of 20 fish of two age ranges and equal sexes were used, and determination of haematological and blood biochemistry profile followed standard procedures. Results obtained for the parameters assessed for the young adults and adults respectively are summarized as follows (mean±standard error): packed cell volume, 32.50±1.10 and 37.33±0.75 %; haemoglobin concentration, 11.81±0.45 and 13.00±0.21 g/dl; red blood cell count, 3.14±0.07×10 6 and 3.09±0.07×10 6 /μl; mean corpuscular volume, 103.44±3.13 and 122.82±3.97 fl; mean corpuscular haemoglobin, 37.65± 1.50 and 42.35±1.47 pg; mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, 37.11±1.12 and 33.97±0.47 g/dl; white blood cell count, 18.39±1.04×10 3 and 20.92±0.67×10 3 /μl; alanine amino transferase, 30.90±0.18 and 38.17±0.16 IU; aspartate amino transferase, 54.20±0.22 and 50.29±0.25 IU; alkaline phosphatase, 5.00±0.54 and 9.55±0.74 IU; total proteins, 2.20±0.07 and 4.05±0.10 g/dl; albumin, 0.96±0.03 and 1.38±0.04 g/dl; globulin, 1.22±0.07 and 2.70±0.10 g/dl; plasma blood glucose, 94.17±8.16 and 175.89±10.38 mg/dl; total cholesterol, 85.33±4.34 and 153.14±8.63 mg/dl; calcium, 4.80±0.48 and 11.64±0.41 mg/dl; blood urea nitrogen, 1.24±0.27 and 1.03±0.13 mg/dl; and body weight, 287.50± 8.18 and 711.11±36.11 g. Results obtained showed significantly higher (p<0.05) values in adults in all the parameters assessed except red blood cell count, mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell count and blood urea nitrogen and significantly lower (p<0.05) aspartate aminotransferase activity. There were no significant changes (p>0.05) due to sex in all the haematological and blood biochemistry parameters assessed. Data generated from this study was considered important as deviations in the normal haematology and blood biochemistry values have a predictive value for general pathological and specific organ changes in the body.

The haematology of clinically healthy, farmed juvenile Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer Bloch)—reference intervals, and indicators of subclinical disease

“…There is a weak but significantly positive correlation between TPP and L. calcarifer bodyweight (Figure 1). Higher blood protein levels have been reported in adult catfish ( Heteroclarias hybrid ) (Okorie‐Kanu & Unakalamba, 2015) and rainbow trout ( O. mykiss ) compared to younger fish (Pastorino et al, 2020). Other studies did not find a significant positive correlation between total serum protein and bodyweight in striped bass ( M. saxatilis ) (Fazio et al, 2020).…”

“…Broadly, haematological values may vary due to several factors: (a) intrinsic—sex, age, species, (b) extrinsic—photoperiod, temperature, seasons and (c) pre‐analytical sampling methods (Braceland et al, 2017; Fazio, 2019; Manna et al, 2021). There have been previous studies on differences in haematological values in fish based on age (Okorie‐Kanu & Unakalamba, 2015), culture conditions (Liu et al, 2017; Montero et al, 1999; Tort et al, 1996), dietary additives (Chiu et al, 2015; De et al, 2019; Siddik et al, 2018), exposure to heavy metals (Javed et al, 2016), handling (Alexander et al, 2011; Fazio et al, 2015), high stocking density or poor water quality (Ardiansyah & Fotedar, 2016), sex (Akinrotimi et al, 2011; Gabriel et al, 2004), species (Parrino et al, 2018; Sayed et al, 2020), temperature (Kim et al, 2019; Stewart et al, 2019), transportation (Paterson et al, 2003) and infectious disease (Pomposini et al, 2019; Qiang et al, 2013). However, interpretation requires baseline blood values or reference intervals (RIs) to be first established for fish under different culture conditions and age groups (Friedrichs et al, 2011).…”