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Cortisol and thyroid hormone responses to acid stress in the brown trout, Salmo trutta L.
Author(s) -
Brown J. A.,
Edwards D.,
Whitehead C.
Publication year - 1989
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.1095-8649.1989.tb03394.x
Subject(s) - brown trout , medicine , salmo , endocrinology , trout , triiodothyronine , zoology , calcium , hormone , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , chemistry , fishery
Individual cannulated brown trout monitored during exposure to acidic water showed increased plasma cortisol after 3 h at pH 4.0 with low (0.05 mm) or high (2.8 mm) calcium (Ca) content, and after 2 days in acidic water with a high Ca content. Most fish did not survive for 2 days in acidic water with a low Ca content. Non‐cannulated fish showed a similar increase in mean plasma cortisol after 2 days in high‐Ca acidic water (pH 4.0–4.6), but not in acidic water of a low Ca content. After 7 days of exposure to acidic water, plasma cortisol appeared to recover when there was a high Ca content but increased 20‐fold when Ca content was low. In cannulated fish severe acid stress resulted in a marked and rapid thyroid response. Plasma thyroxine (T 4 ) was elevated after 3 h exposure to acidic water of both low and high Ca content and remained elevated for 2 days of acid exposure with high Ca. In non‐cannulated fish an increase in mean T 4 was apparent only after 7 days in low‐Ca acidic water. Plasma triiodothyronine (T 3 ) levels were not significantly altered by any of the acid regimes. Plasma glucose of cannulated fish was elevated within 3 h of acid‐exposure and remained elevated after 2 days in high‐Ca acidic water.