Effects of taurine on cadmium exposure in muscle, gill, and bone tissues of Carassius auratus

This study was performed in order to investigate the effects of taurine on cadmium poisoning in muscle, gill, and bone tissues of wild goldfish. For this experiment, 80 wild goldfish were divided into four experimental groups: 0.3 mg/L of cadmium and 0 mg/L of taurine (Group I), 0.3 mg/L of cadmium and 20 mg/kg of taurine (Group II), 0.3 mg/L of cadmium and 40 mg/L of taurine (Group III), and 0.3 mg/L of cadmium and 80 mg/L of taurine (Group IV). The results were as follows: The cadmium concentration in muscle tissue of wild goldfish was 0.65-3.21 mg/kg wet wt in Group I, whereas it decreased in Group IV. Levels of cadmium in gill tissue of wild goldfish were 16.57-42.39 mg/kg wet wt in Group I, 15.23-43.01 mg/kg wet wt in Group II, 15.11-39.56 mg/kg wet wt in Group III, and 13.15-38.55 mg/kg wet wt in Group IV (P < 0.05), suggesting that the cadmium concentration decreased in the experimental groups compared to control. The cadmium concentration in bone tissue of wild goldfish after 28 days was 0.52-9.75 mg/kg in Group II, whereas it increased in Group III (P < 0.05). In conclusion, taurine may have a preventive effect against cadmium accumulation in biological tissues.

The Role of the Pattern Edge in Goldfish Visual Motion Detection

To understand the function of edges in perception of moving objects, we defined four questions to answer. Is the focus point in visual motion detection of a moving object: (1) the body or the edge of the object, (2) the leading edge or trailing edge of the object, (3) different in scotopic, mesopic and photopic luminance levels, or (4) different for colored objects? We measured the Optomotor Response (OMR) and Edge Triggering Response (ETR) of goldfish. We used a square and sine wave patterns with black and red stripes and a square wave pattern with black and grey stripes to generate OMR's and ETR's in the goldfish. When we used black and red stripes, the black leading edges stimulated an ETR under scotopic conditions, red leading edges stimulated an ETR under photopic conditions, and both black and red leading edges stimulated an ETR under mesopic luminance levels. For black and gray stripes, only black leading edges stimulated an ETR in all three light illumination levels. We observed less OMR and ETR results using the sine wave pattern compared to using the square wave pattern. From these results, we deduced that the goldfish tend to prefer tracking the leading edge of the pattern. The goldfish can also detect the color of the moving pattern under photopic luminance conditions. We decided that ETR is an intriguing factor in OMR, and is suitable as a method of behavioral measurement in visual system research.

Crescimento e sobrevivência de larvas de peixe vermelho (Carassius auratus) alimentadas com microdietas comerciais / Growth and survival of Carassius auratus larvae fed commercial micro diets

Para avaliar o desempenho de dois alimentos comerciais para larvas de peixes ornamentais e analisar o efeito que a suplementação em vitaminas e minerais teria sobre a sobrevivência e o crescimento dessas, foi realizado um ensaio de crescimento de 21 dias, com 4800 larvas de peixe vermelho (Carassius auratus), distribuídas por 24 grupos (200 indivíduos por grupo). Cada grupo foi alojado em tanques de 5L de capacidade, ligados a um sistema de recirculação de água. Quatro grupos foram alocados a um controle de jejum, em que os animais não foram alimentados, e os restantes 20 grupos foram utilizados em cinco tratamentos, em quadruplicado. Em cada um dos cinco tratamentos, os peixes ingeriram uma das seguintes dietas: R (referência), C1 (SERA vipan® baby), C2 (SERA® microgran), C1v e C2v (C1 e C2, respectivamente, reforçadas em vitaminas e minerais). As taxas de sobrevivência e crescimento dos peixes do tratamento R foram maiores que as obtidas nos outros tratamentos (P<0,05). Foram ainda observadas diferenças significativas entre tratamentos relativamente ao comprimento e peso totais. Face aos resultados observados, conclui-se que as duas dietas comerciais, com e sem suplementação, não parecem ser adequadas para o preenchimento das necessidades nutricionais de larvas de peixe vermelho.

A 21-day growth trial was performed to evaluate two ornamental fish larvae commercial diets and the effect of mineral and vitamin supplementation of the same commercial microdiets on growth and survival of goldfish larvae (Carassius auratus). A total of 4,800 larvae were randomly distributed in 24 groups of 200 individuals. Each group was housed in a 5L tank, connected to a recirculating water system. Four groups were assigned to a fastening control. The animals in these groups did not receive any food. The remaining 20 groups were distributed in five treatments, in quadruplicate. The animals of each treatment were fed one of five experimental diets: R (reference), C1 (SERA vipan® baby), C2 (SERA® microgran), C1v, and C2v (C1 and C2, respectively, reinforced with minerals and vitamins). At the end of the trial, high survival and growth rates were observed in R treatment. There were significant differences in total length and total weight among dietary treatments. Considering the high survival and growth rates of goldfish larvae obtained with the reference diet, it can be concluded that the two commercial diets tested, with or without mineral and vitamin supplements, do not seem suitable for feeding goldfish larvae.

Intraocular Injection of Muscimol Induces Illusory Motion Reversal in Goldfish

Induced activation of the gamma-aminobutyric acidA (GABA(A)) receptor in the retina of goldfish caused the fish to rotate in the opposite direction to that of the spinning pattern during an optomotor response (OMR) measurement. Muscimol, a GABA(A) receptor agonist, modified OMR in a concentration-dependent manner. The GABA(B) receptor agonist baclofen and GABA(C) receptor agonist CACA did not affect OMR. The observed modifications in OMR included decreased anterograde rotation (0.01~0.03 micrometer), coexistence of retrograde rotation and decreased anterograde rotation (0.1~30 micrometer) and only retrograde rotation (100 micrometer~1 mM). In contrast, the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline blocked muscimolinduced retrograde rotation. Based on these results, we inferred that the coding inducing retrograde movement of the goldfish retina is essentially associated with the GABA(A) receptor-related visual pathway. Furthermore, from our novel approach using observations of goldfish behavior the induced discrete snapshot duration was approximately 573 ms when the fish were under the influence of muscimol.

Two Types of Voltage-activated Calcium Currents in Goldfish Horizontal Cells

In horizontal cells (HCs) that were freshly dissociated from goldfish retina, two types of voltage- dependent calcium currents (ICa) were recorded using a patch-clamping configuration: a transient type current and a sustained type current. The cell was held at -40 mV, and the prepulse step of -90 mV was applied before command pulse between -65 and +55 mV. The transient Ca2+ current was activated by depolarization to around -50 mV from a prepulse voltage of -90 mV lasting at least 400 ms and reached a maximal value near -25 mV. On the other hand, the sustained Ca2+ current was induced by pre-inactivation for less than 10 ms duration. Its activation started near -10 mV and peaked at +20 mV. Co2+ (2 mM) suppressed both of these two components, but nifedipine (20microM), L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist, blocked only the sustained current. Based on the activation voltage and the pharmacological specificity, the sustained current appears to be similar to L-type ICa and the transient type to T-type ICa. This study is the first to confirm that transient type ICa together with the sustained one is present in HCs dissociated from goldfish retina.