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Salmonid Fishes Differ in Their Cortisol and Glucose Responses to Handling and Transport Stress
Author(s) -
Barton Bruce A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
north american journal of aquaculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.432
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1548-8454
pISSN - 1522-2055
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8454(2000)062<0012:sfditc>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - salvelinus , trout , rainbow trout , salmo , brown trout , fontinalis , biology , fishery , juvenile , hatchery , zoology , plasma glucose , endocrinology , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , insulin
Uniformly acclimated juvenile salmonid fishes subjected to 30‐s handling or 2‐h transport stressors showed differences in the magnitude of poststress plasma cortisol and glucose increases. Lake trout Salvelinus namaycush had the highest maximum plasma cortisol after handling (143 ng/mL), rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss had the lowest levels (43 ng/mL), and brown trout Salmo trutta and brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis had intermediate levels (111 and 89 ng/mL, respectively). Lake trout had the highest peak posttransport plasma cortisol (124 ng/mL) compared with brook trout (69 ng/mL) and rainbow trout (57 ng/mL). Peak posthandling plasma glucose levels were highest in brown trout (257 mg/dL) followed by brook, rainbow, and lake trout (177, 153, and 150 mg/dL, respectively). Rainbow trout, however, had the highest peak plasma glucose concentration (223 mg/dL) after transport, and lake trout the lowest (143 mg/dL). Species considered as most stressed based on plasma cortisol elevations were not necessarily so as indicated by changes in glucose. Thus, the evaluation of handling or transport stress in hatchery‐reared salmonid fishes cannot rely solely on a single indicator nor on direct comparison with other species.