The isosmotic point as critical salinity limit for growth and osmoregulation, but not survival, in the wolf eel Anarrhichthys ocellatus.

Members of wolf fish family Anarhichadidae have emerged as potential cold-water marine aquaculture species. This study examined growth performance and osmoregulation in juvenile wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) held in a series of dilute salinities (30, 14, 9, and 6 ‰) over an 8-week trial. At the conclusion of the growth study, fish were sampled for analysis of gill and intestine enzyme activity, plasma ion content, and muscle moisture.

Use it or lose it? Sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, a species representing a fifth teleostean group where the betaNHE associated with the red blood cell adrenergic stress response has been secondarily lost.

Like most teleosts, sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria Pallas 1814) blood exhibits a moderate Root effect (~35% maximal desaturation), where a reduction in blood pH dramatically reduces O(2) carrying capacity, a mechanism important for oxygenating the eye and filling the swim bladder (SB) in teleosts. Although sablefish lack a SB, we observed a well-defined choroid rete at the eye. The adrenergically mediated cell swelling typically associated with a functional red blood cell (RBC) beta-adrenergic Na(+)/H(+) exchanger (betaNHE), which would normally protect RBC pH, and thus O(2) transport, during a generalized acidosis, was not observed in sablefish blood.

Immunotoxicological effects of a sub-chronic exposure to selected current-use pesticides in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Many current-use pesticides (CUPs) are found at increasing concentrations in aquatic environments, yet relatively little is known about their effects on the immune system of fish. We examined the in vivo effects of three pesticides (chlorothalonil, cypermethrin and pentachlorophenol) on the immune system of juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by assessing a suite of innate immune function tests, as well as a host resistance test using Listonella anguillarum. Increased activity of phagocytic leukocytes, as evidenced using flow cytometry, was observed following 28-day exposures to pentachlorophenol (1 microg/L and 2 microg/L), but not for cypermethrin or chlorothalonil, although a trend of increasing activity was noted for chlorothalonil.

Subclinical Listonella anguillarum infection does not impair recovery of swimming performance in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss.

This study examines whether injections of the commonly used bacterial-challenge pathogen Listonella anguillarum (formerly Vibrio anguillarum) negatively impact the ability of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum to perform repeat swimming trials. Fish were given intraperitoneal injections of either a sub-lethal (10(5) colony forming units; CFUs) or a lethal (10(7) CFUs) dose of L. anguillarum, held for 48 h, and then given 2 successive ramp critical swimming speed (Ucrit) tests separated by 45 min.

Effect of dietary vitamin E level on growth, tissue lipid peroxidation, and erythrocyte fragility of transgenic coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary vitamin E concentration on growth performance, iron-catalyzed lipid peroxidation in liver and muscle tissue, and erythrocyte fragility of transgenic growth hormone coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Fish were fed one of four isoenergetic and isonitrogenous experimental diets that contained either 11, 29, 50, or 105 IU of vitamin E/kg. Following the 10-week feeding trial, no significant (P>0.