A dietary dairy/yeast prebiotic and flaxseed oil enhance growth, hematological and immunological parameters in channel catfish at a suboptimal temperature (15°C).

Channel catfish raised in the southern United States require two growing seasons to reach market size. Growing seasons are separated by a cool period of about 3 months when feed intake and growth are greatly reduced. A cool-weather feeding strategy to improve feed intake, growth or health of catfish might improve survival and reduce the time needed to achieve market size. We conducted a feeding trial with channel catfish at a suboptimal temperature (15°C) to determine the effects of supplementing diets with either a dairy/yeast prebiotic or flaxseed oil (high in 18:3n-3) compared with a control with soybean oil (high in 18:2n-6). The trial was conducted in recirculating systems with 1140-l tanks containing 100 fish each (mean initial weight 61.4 g±0.43 s.e.m.). A 28%-protein basal diet was supplemented with 20 g/kg cellulose and 20 g/kg soybean oil (SBO, control), 20 g/kg cellulose and 20 g/kg flaxseed oil (FLAX) or 20 g/kg of a dairy/yeast prebiotic and 20 g/kg soybean oil (PREB). Fish were fed once daily to satiation and weighed every 3 weeks to track growth. Hematology, non-specific immune responses, proximate and fatty acid composition of muscle were determined to assess diet effects. Catfish-fed FLAX or PREB had higher weight gain, feed consumption and lysozyme activity than fish fed SBO. Total n-3 fatty acids in muscle were higher in fish fed SBO or FLAX than those fed PREB. Total n-6 long-chain polyunsaturated acids were higher in muscle of fish fed PREB than those fed SBO. Fatty acids in the PREB and SBO diets were similar, so the PREB appeared to increase elongation and desaturation of n-6 fatty acids in muscle. Flaxseed oil and the dairy/yeast prebiotic both have potential to increase catfish performance at a low temperature.

Validation, use, and disadvantages of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for detection of cortisol in channel catfish, largemouth bass, red pacu, and golden shiners.

Measurement of cortisol response is an important tool to asses stress in fisheries research. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) is a common method for the measure of cortisol in fish. Use of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) to detect cortisol would eliminate health hazards, costs of handling radioisotopes, and the short stability time associated with RIA. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays have been used for the determination of cortisol in several fish species. However, the ELISA method of cortisol determination in fish lacks proper validation testing. We conducted validation procedures for multiple commercial cortisol ELISA kits and compared the results to RIA. The assays were tested for four species: (1) channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus, (2) largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, (3) red pacu Piaractus brachypomus, and (4) golden shiners Notemigonus crysoleucas. We evaluated the ELISA methods against RIA, and determined that at least one kit is suitable (accuracy: mean recovery of spiked samples, 102.8%; reproducibility: interassay coefficient of variation < 10.5% for all species; precision: intra-assay coefficient of variation < 16.8% for all species; linearity: R (2) > 0.96 for all species) for the measurement of cortisol response in fish and comparative determination of stress. All of the ELISA assay results varied by more than 10% from the cortisol concentrations detected by the RIA. The high variability of the kit results indicates that commercial ELISA kits could be utilized for qualitative determination of cortisol in fish, but should be fully validated in each laboratory for each species before being used for research.

Liquid chromatographic analysis of incurred amoxicillin residues in catfish muscle following oral administration of the drug.

Improper application of antibiotic chemicals to livestock and aquaculture species may lead to the occurrence of residues in food supplies. An appropriate depletion period is needed after the administration of drugs to animals for ensuring that residues in edible tissues are below established tolerance levels. This study was conducted to determine incurred amoxicillin residues in catfish muscle following oral administration. Dosed fish were harvested after four depletion periods, and muscle fillets were analyzed for amoxicillin residues using an HPLC method with precolumn derivatization and fluorescence detection. The residue levels in fish after a 6-h depletion ranged from 40 to 64 ng/g with one exception at 297 ng/g. Average residue levels decreased to 5.4 and 2. 8 ng/g after 24- and 48-h depletions, respectively. Residue levels after a 72-h depletion decreased to below the method's limit of quantitation (1.2 ng/g). An LC-MS/MS confirmatory method was developed. Confirmation of the presence of amoxicillin was demonstrated in incurred fish samples containing residues at approximately 50-300 ng/g.

Persistence of gentian violet and leucogentian violet in channel catfish (ictalurus punctatus) muscle after water-borne exposure.

Gentian violet is a triphenylmethane dye that is an antifungal/antiparastic agent. GV is similar to malachite green that has been used in the aquaculture industry for treatment or prevention of external fungal and parasitic infections in fish and fish eggs although it (MG) is not approved for this use. For these reasons, GV's potential for misuse by the aquaculture industry is high. The uptake and depletion of gentian violet (GV) were determined in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) after water-borne exposure (100 ng ml(-1), 1 h) under simulated aquaculture farming conditions. Leucogentian violet (LGV) was rapidly formed, concentrated in the muscle tissue, and very slowly eliminated from muscle tissue. An isocratic (60% acetonitrile-40% water; 0.05 M ammonium acetate buffer, pH 4.5) HPLC system consisting of a 5 microm LC-CN 250x4.6 mm I.D. column, a 20x2.0 mm I.D. PbO2 oxidative post-column, and a UV-VIS detector set at 588 nm were used to determine uptake and depletion of tissue residues of GV and LGV with time. GV was rapidly depleted and converted to its major metabolite, LGV, which was detected out to 79 days. Therefore, LGV is the appropriate target analyte for monitoring exposure of channel catfish to GV.

A bridging study between liquid chromatography and microbial inhibition assay methods for determining amoxicillin residues in catfish muscle.

A bridging study was conducted to establish the correlation between a liquid chromatographic (LC) method and a microbial inhibition (MI) method for analysis of amoxicillin residues in catfish muscle. The LC procedure involved precolumn derivatization with formaldehyde followed by LC separation with fluorescence detection. The MI procedure used Bacillus stearothermophilus as the test organism and was validated in this study before the bridging investigation. The 2 methods were compared for determination of both fortified and incurred samples. No significant differences were found between the methods when all data were included in statistical computations. The linear correlation of LC means versus MI means had a slope of 0.972 and a negligible intercept (1.0 ng/g), with a correlation coefficient of 0.9962. LC was more specific and showed better sensitivity than MI for amoxicillin residues at < or = 10 ng/g. For practical purposes, values obtained by the 2 methods can be considered equivalent.

Essential fatty acid requirement of juvenile red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus).

Feeding experiments and laboratory analyses were conducted to establish the essential fatty acid (EFA) requirement of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Juvenile red drum were maintained in aquaria containing brackish water (5 ± 2‰ total dissolved solids) for two 6-week experiments. Semipurified diets contained a total of 70% lipid consisting of different combinations of tristearin [predominantly 18:0] and the following fatty acid ethyl esters: oleate, linoleate, linolenate, and a mixture of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) containing approximately 60% eicosapentaenoate plus docosahexaenoate. EFA-deficient diets (containing only tristearin or oleate) rapidly reduced fish growth and feed efficiency, and increased mortality. Fin erosion and a "shock syndrome" also occurred in association with EFA deficiency. Of the diets containing fatty acid ethyl esters, those with 0.5-1% (n-3) HUFA (0.3-0.6% eicosapentaenoate plus docosahexaenoate) promoted the best growth, survival, and feed efficiency; however, the control diet containing 7% menhaden fish oil provided the best performance. Excess (n-3) HUFA suppressed fish weight gain; suppression became evident at 1.5% (n-3) HUFA, and was pronounced at 2.5%. Fatty acid compositions of whole-body, muscle and liver tissues from red drum fed the various diets generally reflected dietary fatty acids, but modifications of these patterns also were evident. Levels of saturated fatty acids appeared to be regulated independent of diet. In fish fed EFA-deficient diets (containing only tristearin or oleate), monoenes increased and (n-3) HUFA were preferentially conserved in polar lipid fractions. Eicosatrienoic acid [20:3(n-9)] was not elevated in EFA-deficient red drum, apparently due to their limited ability to transform fatty acids. Red drum exhibited some limited ability to elongate and desaturate linoleic acid [18:2(n-6)] and linolenic acid [18:3(n-3)]; however, metabolism of 18:3(n-3) did not generally result in increased tissue levels of (n-3) HUFA. Based on these responses, the red drum required approximately 0.5% (n-3) HUFA in the diet (approximately 7% of dietary lipid) for proper growth and health.