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A preliminary approach on the stress assessment through harmless procedures in farmed seabream (Sparus aurata)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

M Herrera ,
J López  and
A Herves
M Herrera*
Affiliation:
IFAPA, Centro Agua del Pino, Ctra Cartaya-Punta, Umbría 21459, Cartaya, Spain
J López
Affiliation:
IFAPA, Centro Agua del Pino, Ctra Cartaya-Punta, Umbría 21459, Cartaya, Spain
A Herves
Affiliation:
IFAPA, Centro Agua del Pino, Ctra Cartaya-Punta, Umbría 21459, Cartaya, Spain
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Fish welfare is a key factor in ensuring successful cultures. Farmed fish that are stressed have been shown to be susceptible to pathologies and present lower growth rates. The present work seeks to check the efficacy of faecal cortisol as a non-invasive method of assessing acute stress in a commercial cultured fish, the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). Typical stress markers (plasma cortisol, glucose and lactate) and faecal cortisol were measured in basal and post-stress (air exposure) state. Plasma and faecal cortisol, and plasma lactate after acute stress varied significantly compared to basal levels. Moreover, faecal cortisol showed a significant correlation with plasma cortisol and lactate. In conclusion, this work describes an easy, non-invasive and practical technique to assess acute stress in farmed fish. Further studies are needed to focus on other practical procedures for chronic stress measurements in sea-farms in order to improve the welfare of these animals.

Keywords

animal welfareaquaculturefaecal cortisolgilthead seabreamsea-farmstress
Type
Articles
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , November 2016 , pp. 423 - 427
Copyright
© 2016 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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