Publications by authors named "Reidun M Bjelland"

Article Synopsis
  • Vaccinating farmed fish against diseases is crucial, requiring knowledge about their immune system development, particularly in the ballan wrasse (Labrus bergylta), where kidney and spleen development stages were characterized.
  • B-cell development occurs mainly in the head kidney and surprisingly also in the pancreatic tissue, suggesting that the pancreas plays a role in early immune responses by producing IgM-secreting cells.
  • While B-cells and T-cells develop simultaneously, B-cells migrate to mucosal tissues earlier, indicating their role in providing early immunity, and maternal transfer of IgM to offspring contributes to enhancing their immune competence early on.
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Marine fish larvae often experience high mortality unrelated to predation during early life stages, and farmed ballan wrasse () is no exception. Knowing when the adaptive immune system is developed and fully functional, and how nutrition may modulate these processes is therefore of importance to establish effective prophylactic measures and will also extend the relatively limited knowledge on the immune system in lower vertebrates. The thymus anlage of ballan wrasse was found to be histologically visible for the first time at larval stage 3 (20-30 days post hatch, dph) and becomes lymphoid at stage 5 (50-60 dph) correlating with an increase of T-cell marker transcripts.

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The movement patterns of three commercially important wrasse (Labridae) species inside a small marine protected area (~ 0.15 km ) on the west coast of Norway were analysed over a period of 21 months. The mean distance between capture and recapture locations varied between 10 and 187 m, and was species and season specific.

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The copepod is an obligate ectoparasite of salmonids. Salmon lice are major pests in salmon aquaculture and due to its economic impact is one of the most well studied species of marine parasite. However, there is limited understanding of how increased concentration of CO associated with ocean acidification will impact host-parasite relationships.

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Infestations with salmon lice, a parasitic copepod, is a major problem in the salmon farming industry. Teflubenzuron is an in-feed pharmaceutical applied to control lice outbreaks; the standard medication is 10 mg per kg fish per day for seven days. Surveys reveal that teflubenzuron accumulates and persists in the sediment around fish farms and causes deformities and mortality in juvenile European lobster (Homarus gammarus), a species commonly found in the vicinity of salmon farms in Norway.

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The European eel () has one of the longest migrations in the animal kingdom. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean twice during its life history, migrating between the spawning area in the Sargasso Sea and Europe, where it is widely distributed. The leptocephalus larvae drift with the Gulf Stream and other currents for more than a year and metamorphose into glass eels when they arrive on the continental shelf and move toward coastal areas.

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Unlabelled: The amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the earth's surface has increased due to depletion of the ozone layer. Several studies have reported that UV radiation reduces survival of fish larvae. However, indirect and sub-lethal impacts of UV radiation on fish behavior have been given little consideration.

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UVB alters photosynthetic rate, fatty acid profiles and morphological characteristics of phytoplankton. Copepods, important grazers of primary production, select algal cells based upon their size, morphological traits, nutritional status, and motility. We investigated the grazing rates of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus on the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii cultured under 3 levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR): photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) only (4 kJ-m(-2)/day), and PAR supplemented with UVR radiation at two intensities (24 kJ-m(-2)/day and 48 kJ-m(-2)/day).

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