Search

Increased production of engineered nanoparticles has raised extensive concern about the potential toxic effects on marine organisms living in estuarine and coastal environments. Meanwhile, salinity is one of the key environmental factors that may influence the physiological activities in flatfish species inhabiting in those waters due to fluctuations caused by freshwater input or rainfall. In this study, we investigated the oxidative stress and histopathological alteration of the juvenile Paralichthys olivaceus exposed to nano-TiO 2 (1 and 10 mg L -1 ) under salinities of 10 and 30 psu for 4 days. In the gills, Na + -K + -ATPase activity significantly deceased after 4 days 10 psu exposure without nano-TiO 2 compared with 1 day of acclimating the salinity from the normal salinity (30 psu) to 10 psu. Under this coastal salinity, low concentration (1 mg L -1 ) of nano-TiO 2 exerted significant impacts. In the liver, the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, the levels of lipid peroxide and malondialdehyde increased with nano-TiO 2 exposed under 30 psu. Such increase indicated an oxidative stress response. The result of the integrated biomarker responses showed that P. olivaceus can be adversely affected by high salinity and high concentration of nano-TiO 2 for a short-term (4 days) exposure. The histological analysis revealed the accompanying severe damages for the gill filaments. Principal component analysis further showed that the oxidative stress was associated with the nano-TiO 2 effect at normal salinity. These findings indicated that nano-TiO 2 and normal salinity exert synergistic effects on juvenile P. olivaceus, and low salinity plays a protective role in its physiological state upon short-term exposure to nano-TiO 2 . The mechanism of salinity mediating the toxic effects of NPs on estuarine fish should be further considered., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), urotensin I (UI) and urotensin II (UII) are found throughout vertebrate species from fish to human. To further understand the role of crh, uI and uII in teleosts during development, we investigated the expression pattern of crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ genes, and their response to acute salinity and temperature challenge during early development of zebrafish, Danio rerio. The results reveal that crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ mRNA are detected from 0hpf, and the expression levels increase to a maximum at 6 days post fertilization (dpf), with the exception of uIIα that peak at 5dpf. Exposure of zebrafish embryos and larvae to acute osmotic (30ppt) stress for 15 min failed to modify expression levels of crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ mRNA from levels in control fish except at 6dpf when uIIα and uIIβ were significantly (P < 0.05) modified. Exposure of embryos and larvae to a cold (18 °C) or hot stress (38 °C) generally down-regulated mRNA levels of crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ apart from at 3dpf. The results indicate that the contribution of crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ genes to the stress response in zebrafish may be stressor-specific during early development. Overall, the results from this study provide a basis for further research into the developmental and stressor-specific function of crh, uI, uIIα and uIIβ in zebrafish.

The effects of chronic hypoxia and low salinity on anti-predatory responses of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis were investigated. Dissolved oxygen concentrations ranged from hypoxic to normoxic (1.5 ± 0.3 mg l(-1), 3.0 ± 0.3 mg l(-1) and 6.0 ± 0.3 mg l(-1)), and salinities were selected within the variation during the wet season in Hong Kong coastal waters (15‰, 20‰, 25‰ and 30‰). The dissolved oxygen and salinity significantly affected some anti-predatory responses of mussel, including byssus production, shell thickness and shell weight, and the adductor diameter was only significantly affected by salinity. Besides, interactive effects of dissolved oxygen and salinity on the byssus production and shell thickness were also observed. In hypoxic and low salinity conditions, P. viridis produced fewer byssal threads, thinner shell and adductor muscle, indicating that hypoxia and low salinity are severe environmental stressors for self-defence of mussel, and their interactive effects further increase the predation risk., (Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To examine how different fish coping strategies respond to salinity challenge, olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) with active coping style (AC) and passive coping style (PC) were transferred from seawater (SW) to freshwater (FW) and their behavior and physiology were analyzed. Different behavioral coping strategies, in terms of escape and feeding tendencies, were confirmed in AC and PC fish without FW exposure. Differences in swimming distance between AC and PC flounder were then assessed after 1 and 2 days of FW transfer. Plasma parameters and branchial gene expression were also determined 2, 5, 8, and 14 days after transfer, with comparisons between AC and PC fish and against a SW-acclimated control group. The results showed that: (1) PC flounder exhibited a significant reduction in swimming activity, while AC flounder significantly increased locomotion 2 days after transfer. (2) The plasma osmolality and plasma ionic (Na+ and Cl−) concentration of FW-acclimated PC flounder declined in a continuous fashion over time but this contrasted against the plasma parameters of AC flounder which fluctuated below the baseline level of a SW-acclimated control group. (3) The expression of NKA-α1 and NHE-3-like mRNA in PC flounder gill increased significantly from 5 days, but the expression of these two genes in AC flounder only increased after 8 days of transfer. (4) There were no remarkable differences observed in Rhcg expressions between AC and PC flounder. This study indicates for the first time that PC flounder adopt a "freeze-passive tolerance" strategy while AC flounder adopt a "flight-active resistance" defense strategy in response to salinity challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the release of large amounts of CO2, ocean acidification is intensifying and affecting aquatic organisms. In addition, salinity also plays an important role for marine organisms and fluctuates greatly in estuarine and coastal ecosystem, where ocean acidification frequently occurs. In present study, flow cytometry was used to investigate immune parameters of haemocytes in the thick shellmusselMytilus coruscus exposed to different salinities (15, 25, and 35‰) and two pH levels (7.3 and 8.1). A 7-day in vivo and a 5-h in vitro experiments were performed. In both experiments, low pH had significant effects on all tested immune parameters. When exposed to decreased pH, total haemocyte count (THC), phagocytosis (Pha), esterase (Est), and lysosomal content (Lyso) were significantly decreased, whereas haemocyte mortality (HM) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were increased. High salinity had no significant effects on the immune parameters of haemocytes as compared with low salinity. However, an interaction between pH and salinity was observed in both experiments for most tested haemocyte parameters. This study showed that high salinity, low salinity and low pH have negative and interactive effects on haemocytes of mussels. As a consequence, it can be expected that the combined effect of low pH and changed salinity will have more severe effects on mussel health than predicted by single exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological responses to different environmental salinities were assessed in juveniles of large yellow croaker Pseudosciaena crocea. This species shows a good capacity to adapt to comparatively low environmental salinities by evaluating some physiological responses, i.e. superoxide dismutase ( SOD), acid phosphatase ( ACP), alkaline phosphatase ( AKP) and lysozyme ( LZM) in the liver, spleen, gill and kidney respectively. Growth and survival at salinity 5‰, 10‰ and 25‰ were better than those at salinity 15‰ and 20‰. No significant differences in ACP, AKP, SOD and LZM in the liver were observed among different salinity treatments; SOD, AKP and LZM in the spleen among different treatments only showed significant differences at the beginning or the 2nd week; in the gill, no significant difference of AKP and LZM were observed during the whole experiment, SOD among different treatments showed significant difference at the beginning and the 8th week, and ACP only showed significant difference at the end of the experiment; in the kidney, significant differences in ACP, AKP and SOD among different salinities were merely observed at the end of experiment, and LZM showed significant difference among different treatments at the 2nd week. Overall, some slight stress responses were observed, but few significant differences were observed between low salinity and normal salinity, especially the growth and physiological functions were not influenced by low salinity, i.e. 5‰ and 10‰. We conclude that juvenile large yellow croaker is tolerant to low salinity and shows a potential for low salinity culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the effects of adding salt to water on the physiological parameters of the blood parrot cichlid ( Cichlasoma synspilum ♀ × Cichlasoma citrinellum ♂). The blood parrot cichlid is a popular species in the aquarium trade because of its behaviour and beauty. Salt is usually added to water during the culture or transportation of this fish. However, the manner by which the fish adjusts its physiological responses to salinity change is unclear. The effects of salinity on serum osmolality, immune-related enzyme activities, Na-K-ATPase activities in the gill, skin carotenoid content and oxygen consumption were analysed. Blood parrotfish individuals were transferred from freshwater to water with four salinity levels (0.16, 2.5, 5 and 7.5 ‰) for 168 h, and physiological responses were evaluated at 0, 6, 12, 24 and 168 h. Results showed no significant differences in serum acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase activities, skin carotenoid content and oxygen consumption rate among the different groups. However, the serum osmolality at 6 h was significantly elevated. Moreover, salinity increase stimulated superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity from 0 to 6 h. SOD activity increased from 6 to 24 h but significantly reduced at 168 h when the fish were exposed to salt water. The SOD activity in the salinity 2.5 ‰ group recovered the initial level, whereas those in the salinity 5 and 7.5 ‰ groups decreased to levels lower than the initial level. The gill Na-K-ATPase activity significantly declined with time and salinity increase. Thus, adding an appropriate amount of salt can save energy consumption during osmoregulation and temporarily enhance the antioxidant activity of blood parrotfish. However, this strategy is insufficient for long-term culture. Therefore, adding salt to water only provides short-term benefit to blood parrot cichlid during transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity tolerance and growth of Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus at different developmental stages were evaluated, including newly hatched larvae (nhl), yolk sac larvae (ysl), oil droplet larvae (odl), post oil droplet larvae (podl), premetamorphic larvae (preml) and prometamorphic larvae (proml), at 11 salinities from 5 to 55 g L−1 for 96 h. The ontogenesis during the early life of P. olivaceus was investigated under hatchery salinity 35 g L−1. The results showed that suitable salinities for nhl, ysl, odl, podl, preml and proml larvae were 10 to 25 g L−1, 10 to 30 g L−1, 20 to 30 g L−1, 30 g L−1, 10 to 30 g L−1, 15 g L−1, respectively, demonstrating an ontogenetic variation of salinity tolerance. The salinity tolerance of nhl, ysl, preml was higher than that of odl, podl and proml. The ysl and preml larvae displayed wide salinity tolerances. The present findings demonstrate that the suitable salinity for larviculture of P. olivaceus is 20-25 g L−1 before the depletion of oil droplet; after that, higher salinity (30 g L−1) should be ensured for the post-oil droplet larvae; the premetamorphic larvae can be cultured at a wide salinity range (10-30 g L−1), and the metamorphosed larvae should be reared at salinity about 15 g L−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antipredatory responses/attachment behaviour of the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis were studied under combined stresses of hypoxia and low salinity in the presence/absence of its predator, the swimming crab Thalamita danae. There were two oxygen concentrations (1.5 mg l–1 O2 = hypoxic and 6.0 mg l–1 O2 = normoxic) and two salinity levels (15‰ = low, 30‰ = normal). Byssus production performances (including byssal-thread number, byssal-thread diameter, byssal-thread length, cumulative byssal-thread length and volume and frequency of stalk-shedding) were evaluated after 48 h. All variables were significantly affected by dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity and predator presence. Interactive effects of these three factors on byssus production were also observed. Byssus production and frequency of stalk-shedding were lowest in hypoxia × low salinity, followed by normoxia × low salinity, hypoxia × normal salinity, while normoxia × normal salinity exhibited the highest values in both predator-presence and non-predator-presence groups. At each treatment of DO and salinity, all parameters in predator-presence groups were significantly higher than in non-predator-presence groups. Our results indicate that the environmental hypoxia and low salinity impair anti-predatory/attachment behaviour and show some synergistic effects. Since reduced byssus production makes the mussels more vulnerable to crab predators, the co-occurrence of hypoxia and low salinity may increase the rates of crab predation on P. viridis in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Marine hypoxia owing to nutrient enrichment of water bodies by anthropogenic activities has become a global problem for several decades. Another marine environmental factor, salinity, plays an important role for marine organisms and fluctuates greatly in estuarine and coastal ecosystem, where hypoxia frequently occurs. The present study evaluated the interactive effects of hypoxia and salinity on immune functions of hemocytes in the green-lipped mussel Perna viridis, which widely distributes in estuarine and coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific region. Mussels were subjected to six combinations of oxygen levels (hypoxia: 1.5mg O2 l−1, normoxia: 6.0mg O2 l−1) and salinities (15‰, 22‰ and 30‰) for 168h. Mussel hemocytes were sampled after 24h, 48h, 96h and 168h exposure, for analysis of immune functions including hemocyte mortality, phagocytosis, esterase, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, lysosomal content and total hemocyte counts using flow cytometric methods. Thereafter, all treatments were recovered to normoxic condition (6.0mg O2 l−1) and salinity 30‰ for 24h to study the recovery of immune functions from the combined hypoxic and hyposaline stresses. Interactive effects of dissolved oxygen (DO) and salinity on all immune parameters were observed during the experiment. Generally, hemocyte mortality was higher at low salinity than that at high salinity levels; higher hemocyte mortality was also noted when mussels were exposed to hypoxia compared with normoxia. Phagocytosis at low salinities and hypoxia was decreased compared to normal DO and salinity treatment, respectively. The activity of esterase and ROS production at low salinity and hypoxia were reduced, respectively. Lysosomal content and total hemocyte counts were lower at low salinity and hypoxia compared to other treatments, respectively. After 24h recovery, hypoxia and salinity effects were still significant among previous treatments, indicating immune functions of P. viridis could not recover from combined stresses in a short time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]