Osteological development and deformities in hatchery-reared longtooth grouper (Epinephelus bruneus ): Vertebral column, dorsal-fin supports and caudal-fin skeleton

Abstract

Skeletal deformities are one of the serious problems in hatchery-reared longtooth grouper (Epinephelus bruneus). In this study, seed production of longtooth grouper was carried out in four large hatchery-grade tanks. Osteological development of the vertebral column, caudal-fin skeleton and dorsal-fin supports in larvae and juveniles was described. The vertebral ontogeny started at 4.8 mm total length (TL) with the formation of neural spines 2 and 3, and the vertebral centra began forming at 5.3 mm TL. By 16 mm TL, all vertebral bony elements were formed except for the dorsal ribs. The onsets of the ontogeny of the caudal-fin skeleton and dorsal-fin supports occurred at approximately 5.1 mm and 3.9 mm TL, respectively, and the completion of these bony elements occurred at approximately 20 mm TL. The incidence of deformity was examined; some type of deformity was observed in 57%-68% of the specimens. These deformities mainly occurred as three types: lordosis, around vertebrae 1-5; saddleback-like syndrome, around vertebrae 7-11; and vertebrae fusion, around vertebrae 22-24. The incidence of prehaemal lordosis was significantly higher among individuals with an uninflated swim bladder than among those with an inflated swim bladder. K E Y W O R D Sabnormality, juveniles quality, seed production, skeleton, swim bladder

Development and malformations of the vertebra in the early stages of starry flounder Platichthys stellatus

“…As for the Atlantic halibut Hippoglossus hippoglossus L., ossification of the vertebral centra came up cephalad and caudad from the posterior haemal region of the vertebral column where the ossification started originally (Lewis & Lall, 2006), which is similar to P. stellatus, except for its origin of ossification from the latter haemal region. As for the longtooth grouper Epinephelus bruneus Bloch, ossification of the vertebral centra was conducted by an anterior to posterior direction (Takashi et al, 2018).…”

Kyphosis in Barbus pergamonensis (Cyprinidae-Actinopterygii) from Dalaman Stream Flowing to the Mediterranean Sea

“…In recent decades, fishery biologists have become more interested in skeletal deformity diseases of wild and reared fish (Kužir et al, 2015). Many types of deformities (Afonso et al, 2000;Sato, 2006;Jawad et al, 2017;Jawad & Ibrahim, 2018) have been reported from the variety of fish species living in the different habitats (Iwasaki et al, 2018). It was reported that these deformities affect mostly the ribs, fins, cranium and vertebral column of fish (De La Cruz-Aguero & Perezgomez-Alvarez, 2001).…”