Premium
Administration of cortisol to brown trout, Salmo trutta L., and its effects on the susceptibility to Saprolegnia infection and furunculosis
Author(s) -
Pickering A. D.,
Duston J.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1983.tb02891.x
Subject(s) - salmo , brown trout , biology , trout , saprolegnia , fish <actinopterygii> , hydrocortisone , fight or flight response , plasma concentration , physiology , endocrinology , fishery , biochemistry , gene
Oral administration and intraperitoneal implantation can be used to administer cortisol to the brown trout. Both techniques produce a dose‐dependent increase in plasma cortisol concentration and the experimental procedures reduce the stress response in control fish to a minimum level. The plasma levels of the steroid are within the physiological range for the fish and the time of the response to acute oral administration is similar to that for such stresses as crowding, pollution and confinement. The evidence strongly indicates that elevated cortisol levels can significantly increase the susceptibility of salmonid fish to a wide range of infectious diseases including furunculosis and fungal infection. The present study has shown that this can occur at cortisol levels within the normal physiological range of the fish.