Uptake of the fish pathogen, Aeromonas salmonicida, by rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri L.)

Aeromonas salmonicida was detected in the blood, kidney and spleen of rainbow trout within 2 min of immersion in a suspension containing 10⁴ cells/ml. Uptake into fish was enhanced by culturing the pathogen in low levels of nutrient, i.e., 0.1% (w/v) brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and by the addition of latex particles to the bacterial suspensions. However, there was no apparent difference in the uptake of pathogenic or non-pathogenic isolates. Moreover, the fish did not succumb to clinical signs of disease.     

The tissue localization of Aeromonas salmonicida in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, following three methods of administration

The localization of a live, and a formalized vaccine preparation of Aeromonas salmonicida within the tissues of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri , was followed over a 5 day period. When presented by intraperitoneal injection, both the live bacteria and the vaccine localized in the spleen, liver, kidney and gut. When presented orally, the bacteria and the vaccine were confined almost exclusively to the gut region. Direct immersion resulted in low detectable levels within the tissues, with the spleen and kidney localizing the Aeromonas after its initial attachment to the outer surfaces of the fish.     

Esterases and phosphatases in the leucocytes of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

A preliminary report is made on the distribution of acid phosphatases and acid esterases in the cells of rainbow trout. A modified technique for the cytochemical demonstration of acid esterases is given, resulting in clearer visualization. Lymphocytes undergoing transformation in the presence of phytohaemagglutinin show a parallel decrease in enzyme localization for acid esterase and acid phosphatase as transformation in culture proceeds.     

Cryptobia salmositica: susceptibility of infected rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri, to environmental hypoxia

Using the sealed jar technique (also called residual oxygen bioassay), rainbow trout fry infected with Cryptobia salmositica were more susceptible than non-infected fish to environmental hypoxia. The Winkler technique (azide modification) was used to determine the residual dissolved oxygen in the water. Susceptibility of infected fish increased with 1) time after infection and was most evident in 3-7 wk infections, 2) the severity of anemia, and 3) increasing parasitemia. In prolonged infections, susceptibility was reduced when there were decreases in anemia and parasitemia; however, these infected fish were still more susceptible than non-infected fish. The increase in susceptibility of infected fish to hypoxia may be an important contributing factor to mortality of fish in hatcheries where there is inadequate water flow and overcrowding. The sealed jar technique is recommended in future studies on the pathogenesis of parasitic fish diseases, especially if the metabolic and/or respiratory systems are affected by the infection.     

An analysis of the primary and secondary antibody response in intact and thymectomized rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, to human gamma globulin and Aeromonas salmonicida

The antibody response to human gamma globulin (HGG) and Aeromonas salmonicida (AS) in control and long-term thymectomized rainbow trout was individually monitored in 120 fish. The fish responded poorly to HGG and no memory response was observed. There was no difference in response between control fish and fish which had been thymectomized for 5 months before immunization. However, 9-month thymectomized fish had lower titres than controls. The response to AS was vigorous and significant memory was demonstrated after a second injection. There was no difference in response between control and thymectomized fish. The individual variation in response was not related to body size, antigen dose, sex or reproductive state. The results are discussed in terms of the thymus dependency or independency of antigens in fish, and the role and life span of T cell subsets, such as 'helper' and ';suppressor' cells.     

Oxygen uptake by rainbow trout blood, Salmo gairdneri

Oxygen uptake rate by rainbow trout red cells was measured in the temperature range 5° to 40° C. Between 5° and 20° C there was a steady increase in rate and at 20° C a maximum rate of 2.5 μl O₂/min/ml red cells occurred, followed by a decline in the rate as the temperature increased. A morphological investigation of the red cell was conducted and possible functions of the nucleus in fish red blood cells are discussed.     

Sexual maturation in triploid rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

This paper compares some morphological and endocrinological characteristics of diploid and triploid rainbow trout.
Significant differences were found between diploid and triploid females in GSI, condition factor, gut weight, liver weight and percentage dress-out, and between diploid and triploid males in GSI, condition factor and gut weight.
Diploid females had large, well-developed ovaries containing yolk-filled secondary oocytes whereas the triploids had only string-like ovaries containing nests of oogonia. No primary oocytes were present.
All the diploid males produced copious quantities of milt but it was possible to express a thin, watery milt containing motile spermatozoa from only two of the 12 triploid males. Testes weights in triploids were similar to those of diploids but, while the diploid testes were packed with spermatozoa, those of the triploids consisted mainly of spermatocytes and spermatids with few spermatozoa present. Measurements of the heads of spermatozoa revealed that those from triploids were larger and had a wider size range than those from diploids.
Levels of testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone in triploid and diploid males were not significantly different. However, levels of testosterone and 17β-oestradiol in diploid females were considerably higher than those of triploid females.     

Cadmium exposure of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson: effects on immune functions

Differential leucocyte counts, phagocytosis, humoral antibody response and the in vitro blasto-genetic response to mitogens (lipopolysaccharide and Concanavalin A) and to an antigen ( Vibrio anguillarum ) were studied in rainbow trout exposed to 0,0.7 or 3.6 μg Cd 1⁻¹ for 12 weeks.
Although the fish did not exhibit any clinical or histological changes, cadmium exposure was found to affect two of the immune parameters measured. The cellular response of fish immunized with V. anguillarum to the homologous antigen was significantly lower for splenocytes obtained from fish exposed to cadmium for 9 weeks (3.6 μg Cd 1⁻¹ group) than for splenocytes obtained from non-exposed fish. Conversely, the humoral antibody response to V. anguillarum O-antigen was higher in the 3.6 μg Cd 1⁻¹ group than in the non-exposed group. Protective immunity of fish vaccinated against V. anguillarum was equally as good in the cadmium-exposed group as in the non-exposed group. No cadmium-induced changes in differential leucocyte counts or in the proportions of phagocytic cells were observed.     

Compensatory growth in the rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

The effect of a period of starvation and subsequent refeeding on the weight and length of rainbow trout at different times of the year has been investigated. Fish that have been starved for 3 weeks and then fed for 3 weeks show a weight gain equivalent to or greater than that of fish fed normally for the 6 week period, in four out of the five periods studied. The study provided evidence of the adaptation of the fish to starvation followed by what may be termed compensatory growth once feeding was resumed. The length changes of the fish indicate that the weight gains were due to growth rather than increases in gut fat deposits or increased water uptake.     

Trypanoplasma salmositica: experimental infections in rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri.

Trypanoplasma salmositica was successfully cultured in Hanks' medium with 10% heated fetal calf serum. The culture forms were morphologically similar to blood forms and were infective to rainbow trout by inoculation. T. salmositica produced a disease in experimentally infected rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). The clinical signs were anemia, exophthalmia, abdominal distension with ascites, and splenomegaly. These clinical signs were observed in fish that were infected with three substrains (field substrain, cultured substrain, and cloned substrain) thus satisfying Koch's postulates. The anemia was microcytic and hypochromic and was coincident with increasing parasite number in the blood. The hemoglobin in the infected fish dropped from a normal of about 6 g% to about 1 g% in the first 10 weeks postinfection. Similarly, the hematocrit and red cell count declined as the infection progressed. Abdominal distension and exophthalmia was obvious 10 weeks postinfection. Up to 5 ml ascites fluid were recovered from each of three fish. The fluid contained large numbers of Trypanoplasma and macrophages. Some of the macrophages were engulfing the Trypanoplasma. At about this time the spleen in the infected fish was enlarged 5 to 10 times over that of control fish. The hematocrit centrifuge technique was less sensitive than wet mount examinations for the detection of the organism in blood. Fluctuations in parasite number during the course of infection may be due to antigenic change by the parasite to evade the host immune system.     

Spermiogenesis in the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

In an ultrastructural study on the spermiogenesis of the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri R.) four spermatogenetic stages were identified. In young round spermatids, the nuclear chromatin was first heterogeneous (euchromatin and heterochromatin). Subsequently, it became more homogeneous and started to condense in the form of coarse granules and fibers and then into fibrils associated in ribbon-like elements which eventually partly fused together. During early spermiogenesis, a juxtanuclear vacuole appeared in the area where the nuclear envelope was specialized due to condensation of material between the two envelopes and a slight accumulation of nuclear material. This area was finally located in the anterior part of spermatids and spermatozoa; it probably plays a role during fertilization. A flagellar rootlet appeared early in spermiogenesis; it may play a role in the attachment of the flagellum to the nucleus since it persisted until the centriolar complex was definitively fixed in the implantation fossa. The flagellum did not display a plasma membrane and was first located in the cytoplasm, but when it was later extruded from the cell, it acquired a membrane. The cytoplasm was rich in ribosomes (free or in small groups) but poor in membranous organelles. The few mitochondria polarized around the centriolar complex were finally organized into an annular mid-piece. The spermatids remained connected by intercellular bridges until the end of spermiogenesis. The complexity of trout spermiogenesis is intermediate between that in poecilids and that in carp and pike, which have very simple spermatozoa. The role of the material from the nucleus and the cytoplasm reaching the Sertoli cell in the control of spermatogenesis has been discussed.     

Apomorphine-induced vomiting in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri)

1. The LD50 for a 7-day period following intraperitoneal injection of apomorphine-HCl was calculated to be 158 mg/kg in rainbow trout. 2. Intraperitoneal injection of apomorphine at doses of 60 mg/kg or greater caused vomiting of plastic balls which had been placed in the stomachs of rainbow trout. 3. Apomorphine-induced effects included vomiting, vomiting behavior, toxicity, increased respiration, impaired motor control and equilibrium, and increased aggression. 4. The vomiting control mechanism of trout may be similar to that described in mammals.     

The effects of starvation upon protein turnover in red and white myotomal muscle of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Protein synthesis rates of both red and white muscle were measured using a constant infusion technique in fed and starved rainbow trout over a period of 2 months. In both tissues, rates of protein synthesis fell during starvation although the fall was more rapid in white than in red muscle. The reduced rates of protein synthesis were correlated to a reduced level of RNA in the tissues and a lower rate of translation of the RNA present. Estimated rates for protein degradation in white muscle showed a marked initial increase but with more prolonged starvation the degradation rate become only slightly greater than that in the fed fish.     

Plasma oestrogen levels in rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri Richardson

Levels of oestrogens in plasma of mature fall-spawning rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri were determined using a radio-immunoassay. No significant difference was found in oestrogen concentration between the sexes (male =2.5 ng/ml; female =4.4 ng/ml); between individual variability was great. Four blood samplings over a 24-h period via cardiac puncture of males revealed no diel variation or change in estrogen levels due to the stress of bleedings. Although no gonado-somatic index-estrogen relationship could be demonstrated for either sex, there was correlation between oestrogen and androgen levels in the female.     

Cadmium uptake by rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri eggs and alevins

The uptake of cadmium by eggs and alevins of rainbow trout from water concentrations of between 0.01 and 50.0 mg Cd 1⁻¹ was investigated. The cadmium content of eggs and alevins increased with time and with exposure concentration. Lower cadmium levels were detected in alevins than in eggs. Most of the cadmium (98%) in the eggs was found to be associated with the egg membrane or chorion. This explains the considerable reduction in cadmium concentration observed in alevins after hatching. Alevins hatching from eggs which had been exposed to cadmium survived longer in cadmium than alevins not exposed as eggs. This suggests that the pretreatment of eggs with cadmium serves some protective function. Behavioural and pathological signs of cadmium poisoning such as erratic swimming and blood clotting in alevins were observed.