[Effects of short-term starvation on hematological parameters in cultured juvenile beluga]

This study examined the effect of different starvation periods on hematological parameters including hemoglobin[MCV], hematocrit [MCH], red and white blood cells count and corpuscle indices [MCHC], of cultured juvenile Beluga [Huso huso], with an initial body weight of 45 +/- 0.91g. After adaptation to a dry diet for 10 days group s, with 15 fish in each group, were used for this experiment. Each group was randomly distributed to twelve 500L fiberglass tanks. Each tank had a flow-through system. The fish were exposed to 4 different feeding regimes; Control Group [fed four times daily]; Group 1 [given 2 days of starvation]; Group 2 [given 4 days of starvation]; and, Group 3 [given 8 days of starvation]. Analysis was done at the end of each starvation period by collecting blood from the caudal vein and immediately transporting the samples to the laboratory. The results of the analysis indicated that the different starvation periods did not affect the red blood cell count. The hematocrit value in the Control Group was significantly lower [p<0.05] than the fish group starved for 8 days. MCHC value in the control group was significantly lower [p<0.05] than the fish group starved for 2 days. The hemoglobin concentration, MCV and MCH, did not show any significant difference between the treated groups and the Control Group. Those groups with longer starvation periods showed that the white blood cell count decreased significantly [p<0.05]. It could be concluded that short-term starvation periods weaken the immunological system of cultured juvenile Beluga

[Study of gregarine infection in Kiddi shrimp Parapenaeopsis stylifera] and pacific white shrimp [Litopenaeus vannamei] in Khouzestan province]

One of the most important causes of shrimp diseases in wild environment and Farms are Parasitic disease and Gregarines are the reutine parasites in shrimp. This study was conducted in Khouzestan Province, to determine the prevalence and intensity of Gregarine parasites in Kiddi shrimp [Prapenaeopsis stylifera], a natural species of Persian Gulf, and Pacific white shrimp [Litopenaeus vannamei], currently the major cultured species in Iran. Shrimps were randomly collected from Persian Gulf and Choebde shrimp farms in Abadan, Digestive tracts of the shrimps were studied using wet-mount diagnostic procedure. In this study no Gregarine parasites were observed in Pacific white shrimp whereas infection rate among Kiddi shrimp was 32.5% including Genera: Nematopsis, Rotundula, Heliospora and other unknown Gregarine parasites. The highest infection rate belonged to Genus Nematopsis[%9.55] According to the published materials available, this is the first report of Kiddi shrimp being' parasitized with [Gregarine parasites. Also the relationship between shrimp body length and the rate of infection was found to be positive. But there was no meaningful relationship between sex and the rate of infection