Hematology And Recovery Response In Jacundá, Crenicichla Saxatilis (Linnaeus, 1758) After Short-term Handling Stress

Hematology and recovery response in jacundá, Crenicichla saxatilis (Linnaeus,

1758) after short-term handling stress

By M. de Souza Neves1, L. A. L. Barbas2 and R. Y. Fujimoto3

1Instituto de Estudos Costeiros, Faculdade de Engenharia de Pesca, Bairro Aldeia, Braganc
a, Pa, Brazil; 2Instituto Federal de

Educac
~ao Ci^encia e Tecnologia do Para, Campus Castanhal, Pa, Brazil; 3Embrapa Tabuleiros Costeiros, Aracaju, Sergipe,

Brazil

Summary

The objective of this study was to evaluate the hematological

response of ringtail pike cichlid ornamental fish (Crenicichla

saxatilis) during the recovery period after short-term

stress. The fish were previously submitted to the stress of

chasing, capture and air exposure. Assayed were 24 C. saxatilis

(85.2
61.6 g) in three groups of eight fish; after 0.5, 6

and 24 h recovery, blood samples were collected. The total

erythrocyte, relative thrombocyte and differential leukocyte

counts as well as total hemoglobin, hematocrit, glucose,

total plasma protein and the red blood cells (RBC) indices

of mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular

hemoglobin (MCH) and MCH concentration (MCHC) were

determined. Stress responses were observed after 0.5 h,

although hyperglycemia remained constant during the experiment.

Total lymphocyte and hemoglobin values decreased

after 0.5 h in the recovery period. An increase of neutrophils

and monocytosis was observed after 0.5 and 6 h, respectively.

The MCHC remained stable until after 0.5 h, then

varied from this time forward. MCV, MCH and erythrocyte

numbers oscillated throughout the experiment. Intense stress

was observed in the studied C. saxatilis, with most hematological

variables not returning to their initial levels after

24 h.