Skip to content

Influence of extreme ambient cold stress on growth, hematological, antioxidants, and immune responses in European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax acclimatized at different salinities

Abstract

Climate change-driven extreme climatic events are expected to challenge ectotherms' physiological tolerance. The hemato-physiological modulation potentials of fish during ambient extreme-cold events at various salinities are poorly studied. In this study, we evaluated the growth, hemato-physiological, antioxidants, and immunological responses of European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax acclimatized at 30, 12, 6, and 3 PSU followed by an extreme ambient cold (8 °C) exposure for 20 days. Juveniles acclimatized at 30 and 3 PSU showed significantly low growth performance (p < 0.05). Red blood cells (RBC) count, hematocrit, hemoglobin, and serum protein content were decreased in 3 and 30 PSU fish. In contrast, significantly higher white blood cells (WBC) count, skin mucus cortisol, different types of erythrocytic cellular abnormalities (ECA), and erythrocytic nuclear abnormalities (ENA) were observed in 30 and 3 PSU fish. Also, higher activities of serum antioxidants [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR)], and upregulation of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in the spleen were observed in 3 and 30 PSU fish. In addition, on day 20, phagocytic respiratory burst (RB) and serum lysozyme activities (LSZ) were significantly higher in 3 and 30 PSU fish during extreme cold exposure. None of the repeatedly evaluated parameters indicated acclimation capacity to cope with tested salinities during cold exposure. However, taken together, our results indicate that Dicentrarchus labrax acclimatized at intermediary salinities (6 and 12 PSU) can perform comparatively better during ambient extreme-cold exposure (8 °C).

Cite this activity

Jakiul Islam M., James Slater M., Thiele R. and Kunzmann A. (2021) Influence of extreme ambient cold stress on growth, hematological, antioxidants, and immune responses in European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax acclimatized at different salinities. Ecological Indicators 122: 107280. 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107280

Details

Research topics
Date 01.03.2021
Journal Ecological Indicators
Volume 122
Pages 107280
Open Access Open Access (open)
Open Access Status Open Access (open)
Eprints_link https://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/4493
Peer-Reviewed

Research Spectrum

Agricultural and Biological Sciences

The content on this page is maintained by the authors.