All about Fish Vetting – Dr Richmond Loh
Those who had their heaters turned off during summer and forgot to turn their heaters back on, may find their tropical fish may have reduced appetite. This is a timely reminder to check that your heaters are on and that they are working properly.
Have one heater and two thermometers. Check the thermometer rather than the heater setting.
The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation report titled, “Final Report – 2005/641 – Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: current and future needs for aquatic animal health training and for systems for merit-based accreditation and competency assessments.” The executive summary of this report concludes:
‘There is a shortfall in both total capacity and more prominently, in the availability of high skill level individuals within both laboratory and field service provision areas. It was widely recognised that many of the traditional pathways for training groups of such skilled individuals was through mentorship and self-education within State and Commonwealth Governments. These are now severely restricted due to a changing role of Government and ongoing tightening of resources. A significant proportion of all stakeholders felt that current Australian training opportunities were either completely absent or of insufficient depth. Seventy-three percent (73%) of survey respondents felt that the demands for aquatic animal health services were likely to increase over the next 5-10 years, which will only exacerbate the currently recognised shortages.
Through discussions with an array of industry stakeholders across Australia there appeared to be sufficient training available for farmer level individuals but not for specialised aquatic animal health diagnostic professionals.’
What happened to the fishing boat that sank in piranha fish infested waters?
It came back with a skeleton crew
Ever found one of these little white balls of a crab when you’re eating mussels?
I remember finding one as a kid and asked my dad what it was. It is a pea crab! They’re very cute little rotund crabs. What I thought then was a nice find, can actually cause production losses for mussel farmers.
| Aquaculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012) | |||||||||||||||||
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Impact of the parasitic pea crab Pinnotheres novaezelandiaeon aquacultured New Zealand green-lipped mussels, Perna canaliculus | ||||||||||||||||
| Authors: | Oliver Trottier, Dion Walker, Andrew G. Jeffs | ||||||||||||||||
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| Source: | Aquaculture, Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012) | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Numbers: | 23 – 28 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Abstract: | Pea crabs are a common parasite of bivalves around the world and frequently cause problems for bivalve aquaculture through end-consumer complaints and rejections of consignments at international borders due to biosecurity concerns. However, the financial impact of pea crabs on aquaculture production has never been quantified for any bivalve species. A large scale systematic sampling of a typical green-lipped mussel farm in New Zealand revealed that pea crabs were present in 5.3% (±0.062 SE) of the mussels. The abundance of crabs increased gradually with decreasing water depth beneath the farm and greater distance from the shoreline. Mussels infected with pea crabs were 30% smaller in total wet weight [F1, 2573=669, p=0.00], had a 29% lower meat yield [F1, 2573=355, p=0.00], and shell dimensions were also significantly affected. A total production loss on the 1.71ha farm was estimated at 803kg at harvest. When this measured loss is extrapolated to current total mussel aquaculture production in New Zealand, pea crab infection represents an estimated loss to the industry of US$2.16 million annually. Our results indicate that parasitic pea crabs are producing a significant loss of production in shellfish farming aquaculture operations, even at low levels of infection, and therefore warrant a great deal more attention in terms of developing effective control measures. | ||||||||||||||||
| Citation: | Oliver Trottier, Dion Walker, Andrew G. Jeffs . Impact of the parasitic pea crab Pinnotheres novaezelandiaeon aquacultured New Zealand green-lipped mussels, Perna canaliculus. Aquaculture, Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012), pp. 23-28, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4721B490FC09957E2DAE> | ||||||||||||||||
| URL: | http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4721B490FC09957E2DAE | ||||||||||||||||
Following on from my recent post about teaching your fish to eat dried foods as a means of delivering medicines to fish if necessary in the future, I wonder what are some foods and their brands that you use that even the fussiest of eaters would accept?
Please do send me your comments and views. Tell me what brand, what form it comes in (flake, granules, pellets, sinking, floating, etc), the approximate cost and why you like it.
In marine set-ups, it is not always possible to add medication to the water to cure many of the fish diseases because it could adversely affect the invertebrates in the system (e.g. coral, shrimp, molluscs). In-feed medication would be the better way to proceed provided the fish are eating and that they are able to accept dry/manufactured food in which medication can be applied to.
So, it is advisable to try and train your fishes to accept dry foods in the event that a disease outbreak occurs.
This paper shows results from research into a possible treatment for marine white spot disease in fish.
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| Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012) | |||||||||||||||||
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Antiparasitic effect of dietary Romet®30 (SDMX–OMP) against ciliate Cryptocaryon irritans infection in the red sea bream Pagrus majorand tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes | ||||||||||||||||
| Authors: | Fumi Kawano, Noritaka Hirazawa, Kjersti Gravningen, Jan Oppen Berntsen | ||||||||||||||||
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| Source: | Aquaculture, Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012) | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Numbers: | 35 – 39 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Abstract: | We investigated the effects of dietary Romet®30 (sulfadimethoxine–ormetoprim (SDMX–OMP)) on Cryptocaryon irritansinfection in red sea bream Pagrus majorand tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes. In Experiment I, 100% mortality of P. majordue to C. irritansinfection was observed at 10days and 21days after exposure to theronts (infective stage) in the a control group without Romet®30 and the group treated with 50mg Romet®30/kg body weight (BW)/day for 14days, respectively. Thus, mortality in the treated group was markedly delayed compared with that in the control group. In Experiment II, 100% mortality of P. majorin the control group due to C. irritansinfection was recorded at 11days after exposure to theronts. In contrast, mortality due to parasite infection was not observed in the group treated with Romet®30 at 50mg/kg BW/day for 14days, and no parasites were found in any surviving fish after 33days exposure. In addition, the number of parasites on the gills of T. rubripestreated with 50mg Romet®30/kg BW/day for 14days was significantly lower than that in the control group after 16days exposure. These results show that in-feed Romet®30 at 50mg/kg BW/day for 14days had antiparasitic and therapeutic effects against C. irritansin both P. majorand T. rubripes. Thus, dietary Romet®30 could be useful for controlling C. irritansinfection. | ||||||||||||||||
| Citation: | Fumi Kawano, Noritaka Hirazawa, Kjersti Gravningen, Jan Oppen Berntsen . Antiparasitic effect of dietary Romet®30 (SDMX–OMP) against ciliate Cryptocaryon irritansinfection in the red sea bream Pagrus majorand tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes. Aquaculture, Volume 349, Number 9 (May 2012), pp. 35-39, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4C4BA1F52453BCC01E99> | ||||||||||||||||
| URL: | http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4C4BA1F52453BCC01E99 | ||||||||||||||||
| Aquaculture | |||||||||||||||||
| Volume 341, Number 5 (March 2012) | |||||||||||||||||
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Effects of stocking density and sustained aerobic exercise on growth, energetics and welfare of rainbow trout | ||||||||||||||||
| Authors: | D.J. McKenzie, E. Höglund, A. Dupont-Prinet, B.K. Larsen, P.V. Skov, P.B. Pedersen, A. Jokumsen | ||||||||||||||||
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| Source: | Aquaculture, Volume 341, Number 5 (March 2012) | ||||||||||||||||
| Page Numbers: | 216 – 222 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Abstract: | Two stocking densities, “low” (L, between ~19 and ~25kgm-3) and “high” (H, between ~75 and ~100kgm-3) were compared for effects on specific growth rate (SGR), feed conversion, energetics and welfare of rainbow trout reared at 14°C either in static water (S) or swimming in a gentle current of ~0.9 bodylengths s-1(C). Trout (initial mass ~110g) were reared for 9weeks in circular tanks (volume 0.6m3), in triplicate of four conditions (LS, LC, HS, HC). Fish were fed ad-libitum daily; waste pellets were swirl-collected at the outflow to calculate feed intake. SGR was measured each three weeks for the last six weeks of the trial. The tanks functioned as intermittent-stopped flow respirometers, to permit metabolic rate to be measured as instantaneous oxygen uptake once per hour. Mean (±SD) SGR was significantly lower at H than L (1.51±0.03 vs1.44±0.04% day-1, respectively, n=6) and lowest in HC. When compared over a similar interval of mass gain, H groups had approximately 25% higher metabolic rates than L, with the highest rates in the HC condition. As a result, fish in the H groups dissipated a greater amount of feed energy as metabolism and, across all groups, there was a direct negative relationship between the quantity of energy dissipated and their SGR. There was no evidence of a neuroendocrine stress response, plasma cortisol was around 1ngml-1in all conditions. An acute crowding stress increased plasma cortisol to above 120ngml-1in all groups, but C groups recovered to control levels within 8h whereas S groups required 20h. Respirometry on individuals revealed that H fish had approximately 14% higher metabolic rates than L fish, indicating that increased metabolic rate in rearing tanks was in part physiological. The H groups had approximately 15% lower critical swimming speeds than the L groups which, together with their raised metabolic rate, indicated a physiological impairment. Thus, high density reduced SGR by raising energy dissipation, at least partially as a physiological response by the fish, although there was no evidence of an endocrine stress response. The only beneficial effect of C was in recovery from acute stress. | ||||||||||||||||
| Citation: | D.J. McKenzie, E. Höglund, A. Dupont-Prinet, B.K. Larsen, P.V. Skov, P.B. Pedersen, A. Jokumsen . Effects of stocking density and sustained aerobic exercise on growth, energetics and welfare of rainbow trout. Aquaculture, Volume 341, Number 5 (March 2012), pp. 216-222, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4D9DBDAC247D45807360> | ||||||||||||||||
| URL: | http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4D9DBDAC247D45807360 | ||||||||||||||||