Masud N, Ellison A, Cable J
School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK.
Dis Aquat Organ. 2019 Apr 11;134(1):25-32. doi: 10.3354/dao03362.
The transport of fish in aquaculture and the ornamental trade exposes fish to multiple stressors that can cause mass mortalities and economic loss. Previous research on fish transport has largely focussed on chemical stress related to deterioration in water quality. However, mechanical disturbance during routine fish transport is unpredictable and is a neglected potential stressor when studying fish welfare. Stress-induced immunosuppression caused by mechanical disturbance can increase the chances of contracting infections and can significantly increase infection burden. Here, using a model host-parasite system (guppy Poecilia reticulata and the monogenean ectoparasite Gyrodactylus turnbulli) and a new method of bagging fish (Breathing Bags™), which reduces mechanical disturbance during fish transport, we investigated how parasite infections contracted after simulated transport impact infection trajectories on a globally important ornamental freshwater species. Guppies exposed to mechanical transport disturbance suffered significantly higher parasite burden compared to fish that did not experience transport disturbance. Unfortunately, there was no significant reduction in parasite burden of fish transported in the Breathing Bags™ compared to standard polythene carrier bags. Thus, transport-induced mechanical disturbance, hitherto neglected as a stressor, can be detrimental to disease resistance and highlights the need for specific management procedures to reduce the impact of infectious diseases following routine fish transport.
水产养殖和观赏鱼贸易中的鱼类运输使鱼暴露于多种应激源，这些应激源可导致大规模死亡和经济损失。以往对鱼类运输的研究主要集中在与水质恶化相关的化学应激方面。然而，常规鱼类运输过程中的机械干扰是不可预测的，并且在研究鱼类福利时是一个被忽视的潜在应激源。机械干扰引起的应激诱导免疫抑制会增加感染疾病的几率，并会显著增加感染负担。在此，我们使用一个模型宿主-寄生虫系统（孔雀鱼食蚊鱼和单殖吸虫体外寄生虫特氏三代虫）以及一种新的装鱼方法（呼吸袋™），这种方法可减少鱼类运输过程中的机械干扰，我们研究了模拟运输后感染的寄生虫如何影响一种全球重要的观赏淡水物种的感染轨迹。与未经历运输干扰的鱼相比，遭受机械运输干扰的孔雀鱼的寄生虫负担显著更高。不幸的是，与标准聚乙烯包装袋相比，用呼吸袋™运输的鱼的寄生虫负担没有显著降低。因此，运输引起的机械干扰，迄今为止作为一种应激源被忽视，可能对疾病抵抗力有害，并凸显了采取特定管理程序以减少常规鱼类运输后传染病影响的必要性。
