Stress and body condition in a population of largemouth bass: implications for red-sore disease

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · Trans. Am. Fish. Soc.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1980)109<532:SABCIA>2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:6709930

Esch, G W ^[1]; Hazen, T C

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1. Wake Forest Univ., Winston-Salem, NC

The body conditions, K = 10/sup 5/(weight, g)/(standard length)/sup 3/, and various hematological characters were examined for largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) taken from Par Pond, a reservoir heated by effluent from a nuclear production reactor at the Savannah River Plant near Aiken, South Carolina. Largemouth bass with K less than 2.0 had significantly lower (P < 0.05) hematocrits, hemoglobin concentrations, total red blood cell counts, total white blood cell counts, and lymphocyte fractions, and significantly higher granulocyte fractions and cortisol concentrations, than those with K greater than 2.0; monocyte, thrombocyte, and reticulocyte fractions were not different between the two K-factor groupings. When data were pooled, all blood variables except the reticulocyte fraction were significantly correlated with K. Hematocrit, the lymphocyte fraction, and cortisol concentration account for 20.5% of the variation in K. These data support a previous hypothesis that elevated water temperature promotes stress. Stress within the Par Pond largemouth bass population may play an important role in the epizootiology of red-sore disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium, Aeromonas hydrophila.

• DOE Contract Number: AS09-76EY-00900; EY-76-C-09-0819
• OSTI ID: 6709930
• Journal Information: Trans. Am. Fish. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 109:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
FISHES
POPULATION DYNAMICS
SENSITIVITY
THERMAL EFFLUENTS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
AEROMONAS
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BIOASSAY
BIOLOGICAL STRESS
BLOOD CELLS
BLOOD COUNT
DATA
DISEASES
FRESH WATER
METABOLISM
POPULATIONS
QUANTITY RATIO
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT
TEMPERATURE EFFECTS
WATER RESERVOIRS
WEIGHT
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BODY FLUIDS
ECOSYSTEMS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VERTEBRATES
WATER
560205* - Thermal Effects- Vertebrates- (-1987)
550100 - Behavioral Biology