Water quality and fish diseases


Published: Nov 13, 2017
Keywords:
water quality fish diseases
I. N. VATSOS (Ι.Ν. ΒΑΤΣΟΣ)
P. ANGELIDIS (Π. ΑΓΓΕΛΙΔΗΣ)
Abstract

Certain water quality parameters are known to cause serious problems to fish, especially when they are living under intensive farming conditions. These problems range from discomfort of fish to heavy mortalities and factors, such as the fish species, the time and level of exposure and the synergic effect of other coexisting stressful conditions, play an important role. In addition, when these parameters are outside the preferable for each fish species range, they can induce stress to fish, compromising their immune system and making them vulnerable to many opportunistic pathogens. Oxygen is, probably, the main limiting factor under farming conditions and when its levels are below the preferable range for any fish species, many morphological, as well as physiological alterations develop. Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the water usually coexist with decreased levels of oxygen and can cause respiratory acidosis and nephrocalcinosis. The latter is characterized by the development of granulomas in many internal organs and urolithiasis. Ammonia usually causes problems under intensive farming conditions, especially when the water

is recirculated and the pH is high. Increased levels of ammonia in the water can cause extensive alterations in the gills and degenerative changes in the liver and kidney. Gas supersaturation of the water, depending on the level of saturation and the time of exposure, can result in the gas bubble disease. Formation of bubbles in the eyes, skin and gills and extensive necrotic areas inmany organs due to gas emboli are the main findings caused by this disease. Many contaminants in the water can, also, create serious problems to fish. Fin erosion, epidermal hyperplasia or papilloma and degenerative and necrotic alterations in many internalorgans are common findings observed in fish on many cases of water pollution. Many of the factors mentioned above, as well as others, such as nutrition and bad management, can result in abnormal development of the body offish, when exposed at their early life stages. Due to farming conditions, cultured fish tend to exhibit increased rate of body malformation compared to wild ones. Careful design of the facilities, use of specialized equipment and, probably, application of genetic selection program can minimize or even eliminate the effects these water parameters have on the cultured fish.

Article Details
  • Section
  • Review Articles
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Afonso JM, Monterò D, Robaina L, Asterga Ν, Izquierdo MS, Gines R (2000) Association of a lordosis-scoliosis-kyphosis deformity in gilthead sea bream (Spams aurata L.) with family structure. Fish Physiol Biochem, 22:159-163.
Andrades JA, Becerra J, Fernândez-Llebrez Ρ (1996) Skeletal deformities in larval, juvenile and adult stages of cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.). Aquaculture, 141(1-2):1-11.
Au DWT (2004) The application of histo-cytopathological biomarkers in marine pollution monitoring: a review. Mar Poll Bull, 48:817-834.
Barton BA, Taylor BR (1996) Oxygen requirements of fishes in northern Alberta rivers with a general review of the adverse effects of low dissolved oxygen. Water Qual Res J Can, 31(2):361-409.
Benli AHK, Köksal G, Özkul A (2008) Sublethal ammonia exposure of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.): Effects on gill, liver and kidney histology. Chemosphere, 72:1355-1358.
Boglione C, Gagliardi F, Scardi M, Cataudella S (2001) Skeletal descriptors as quality assessment in larvae and post-larvae of wildcaught and hatchery-reared gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L. 1758). Aquaculture, 192:1-22.
Cahu C, Zambonino-Infante J, Takeuchi Τ (2003) Nutritional components affecting skeletal development in fish larvae. Aquaculture, 227(l-4):245-258.
Châtain Β (1994) Abnormal swimbladder development and lordosis in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and sea bream (Sparus aurata). Aquaculture, 119:371-379.
Châtain Β (1997) Development and achievements of marine fish rearing technology in France over the last 15 years. Hydrobiologia, 358:7-11.
Clark ML, Helfrich LA (2006) Comparison of water quality and rainbow trout production in oxygenated and aerated raceways. Ν Am J Aquacult, 68(l):41-46.
Colt J (1986) Gas supersaturation impact on the design and operation of aquatic systems. Aquae Eng, 5:49-85.
Fernandez I, Hontoria F, Ortiz-Delgado JB, Kotzamanis Y, Estévez A, Zambonino-Infante JL, Gisbert E (2008) Larval performance and skeletal deformities in farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed with graded levels of Vitamin A enriched rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis). Aquaculture, 283:102-115.
Fivelstad S, Olsen AB, Waago R, Zeitz S, Hosfeld ACD, Stefansson S (2003) A major water quality problem in smolt farms: combined effects of carbon dioxide, reduced pH and aluminium on Atlantic
salmon (Salmo salar L.) physiology and growth. Aquaculture, 215:339-357.
Foster RP, Goldstein L (1969) Formation of excretory products. In: Fish Physiology, 1. Academic Press, New York, NY, pp 313-350.
Galeotti M, Beraldo Ρ, de Dominis S, D'Angelo L, Ballestrazzi R, Musetti R, Pizzolito S, Pinosa M (2000) A preliminary histological and ultrastructural study of opercular anomalies in gilthead sea
bream larvae (Sparus aurata). Fish Physiol Biochem, 22:151-157.
Gapasin RSJ, Duray MN (2001) Effects of DHA-enriched live food on growth, survival and incidence of opercular deformities in milkfish (Chanos chanos). Aquaculture, 193:49-63.
Gómez S (2000) Nephrocalcinosis in Mediterreanean Cultured White Bream (Diplodus sargus L.). Bull Eur Ass Fish Pathol, 20(l):40-42.
Gunnarsli KS, Toften H, Mortensen A (2008) Effects of nitrogen gas supersaturation on growth and survival in juvenile Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.). Aquaculture, 283:175-179.
Hargreaves JA, Tucker CS (2004) Managing Ammonia in Fish Ponds. SRAC Publication No. 4603, pp 8.
Harrison JG, Richards RH (1979) The pathology and histopathology of nephrocalcinosis in rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri Richardson in fresh water. J Fish Pis, 2:1-12.
Henrique MMF, Gouillou-Coustans MF, Gomes E (2002) Effect of dietary ascorbic acid supplementation and chronic hypoxia on sea bream growth and vitamin C status. J Fish Biol, 60,442-452.
Hosfeld CD, Engevik A, Mollan T, Lunde TM, Waagbo R, Olsen AB, Breck Ο, Stefansson S, Fivelstad S (2008) Long-term separate and combined effects of environmental hypercapnia and hyperoxia in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) smolts. Aquaculture, 280(1-4):146-153.
Huchzermeyer KD (2003) Clinical and pathological observations on Streptococcus sp. infection on South African trout farms with gas supersaturated water supplies. Onderstepoort J Vet Res, 70(2):95-105.
Huntingford FA, Adams C. Braithwaite VA, Kadri S, Pottinger TG, Sandoe P, Turnbull JF (2006) Current Issues In Fish Welfare. Fish Biol, 68:332-372.
Jobling M (1994) Fish Bioenergetics. London: Chapman & Hall, pp 309.
Johnson DW, Katavic I (1984) Mortality, growth and swim bladder stress syndrome of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae under varied environmental conditions. Aquaculture, 38:67- 78.
Johnson EL, Clabough TS, Bennett DH, Bjornn CT, Peery CA, Caudill CC (2005) Migration depths of adult spring and summer Chinook salmon in the lower Columbia and snake rivers in relation to dissolved gas supersaturation. Trans Am Fish Soc, 134:1213-1227.
Kalogianni E, Strouboudi MT, Tsangaris K, Abraham M, Andriopoulou A, Iger Y, Alexi, MN (2003) Morphological alterations in the skin of the sea beam (Sparus aurata) and the sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) exposed to high ammonia. 7th Hellenic Symposium on Oceanography and Fisheries. Chersonissos, Greece, 6-9 May 2003. Book of Abstracts, pp 216.
Kihara M, Ogata S, Kawano N, Kubota I, Yamaguchi R (2002) Lordosis induction in juvenile red sea bream, Pagrus major, by high swimming activity. Aquaculture, 212, (1-4): 149-158.
Kingsford MJ, Suthers I. M, Gray CA (1997) Exposure to sewage plumes and the incidence of deformities in larval fishes. Mar Poll Bull, 33(7-12), 201-212.
Lemarié G, Dosdata A, Covès DG, Dutto E, Gasseta J, Person-Le Ruyet, J (2004) Effect of chronic ammonia exposure on growth of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles. Aquaculture, 229:479-471.
Madsen L, Dalsgaard I (1999) Vertebral column deformities in farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Aquaculture, 171(l-2):41-48.
Marking LL, Dawson VK, Crowther JR (1983) Comparison of column aerators and a vacuum degasser for treating supersaturated culture water. Prog Fish Cult, 45(2):81-83.
Medale F (1985) Influence of a decrease in water oxygen concentration throughout a long period on some aspects of nitrogen metabolism in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri Rich.). Univ. Paul Sabatier, Lab. Ecophysiol. Poissons, Toulouse (France).
Noga EJ (2000) Fish Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment. Wiley-Blackwell, pp 367.
Perry SF, McDonald G (1993) Gas Exchange. In: The Physiology of Fishes. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 251-278.
Person Le Ruyet J, Lamers, A, Roux A, Severe A, Boeuf G, Mayer-Gostan Ν (2003) Long term ammonia exposure of turbot: effects of plasma parameters. J Fish Biol, 62:879-894.
Person-Le Ruyet J, Chartois H, Quemener L, (1995) Comparative acute ammonia toxicity in marine fish and plasma ammonia response. Aquaculture, 136:181-194.
Pichavant Κ, Person-Le-Ruyet J, Le Bayon, A, Severe A, Le Roux A, Boeuf G, (2001) Comparative effects of long-term hypoxia on growth, feeding and oxygen consumption in juvenile turbot and European sea bass. J Fish Biol, 59:875-883.
Piiper J (1998) Branchial Gas Transfer Models. Comp Biochem Physiol, 119A(1):125-130.
Richardson NL, Higgs DA, Beames RM, McBride JR, (1985) Influence of Dietary Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc and Sodium Phytate Level on Cataract Incidence, Growth and Histopathology
in Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). J Nutrition, 115 (5):553-567.
Roberts, R.J, Rodger HD (2001) Pathophysiology and Systemic Pathology of Teleosts, In: Fish Pathology. 3rd ed, WB Saunders, pp 55-132.
Roo FJ, Hernândez-Cruz CM, Socorro, JA, Fernândez-Palacios H, Monterò D, Izquierdo MS, (2009) Effect of DHA content in rotifers on the occurrence of skeletal deformities in red porgy Pagrus pagrus (Linnaeus, 1758). Aquaculture, 287, 84-93.
Saroglia M, Terova G, De Stradis A, Caputo A (2002) Morphometric adaptations of sea bass gills to different dissolved oxygen partial pressures. J Fish Biol, 60:1423-1430.
Schnitzler JG, Koutrakis E, Siebert U, Thomi JP, Das Κ (2008) Effects of persistent organic pollutants on the thyroid function of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) from the Aegean Sea, is it an endocrine disruption? Mar Poll Bull, 56:1755-1764.
Thetmeyer H, Waller U, Black KD, Inselmann S, Rosenthal H (1999) Growth of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) under hypoxic and oscillating oxygen conditions. Aquaculture, 174:355-367.
Tudor M, Katavic I, Marsic-Lucic J (1994) Acute toxicity of ammonia to juvenile sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) at different aeration levels. Aquaculture, 128, 89-95.
Val AL, Silva MNP, Almeida-Val VMF, (1998) Hypoxia adaptation in fish of the Amazon: a never-ending task. S A J Zool, 33(2):107-114.
Varvarigos Ρ (2007) Chronic sub-lethal copper toxicity from net antifoulants causing anaemia, gill degeneration and inducing bacterial and parasitic diseases to fish in coastal marine farms in Greece. 13th International EAFP Conference on Fish and Shellfish Diseases. Grado, Italy. 17th - 21st September 2007. ρ 159.
Vethaak AD, ap Rheinallt Τ (1992) Fish disease as a monitor for marine pollution: the case of the North Sea. Rev Fish Biol Fish, 2:1-32.
Wajsbrot N, Gasith A, Krom MD, Popper DM (1991) Acute toxicity of ammonia to juvenile gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata under reduced oxygen levels. Aquaculture, 92:277-288.
Wajsbrot N, Gasith A, Diamant A, Popper DM (1993) Chronic toxicity of ammonia to juvenile gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata and related histopathological effects. J Fish Biol, 42:321-328.
Wajsbrot N, Gasith A, Krom MD, Popper DM (1991) Acute toxicity of ammonia to juvenile gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata under reduced oxygen levels. Aquaculture 92:277-288.
Yediler A, Jacobs J (1995) Synergistic effects of temperature; oxygen and water flow on the accumulation and tissue distribution of mercury in carp (Cyprinus carpio L.). Chemosphere,
(11-12): 4437-4453.
Most read articles by the same author(s)