Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences
Volume:22 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

The juvenile Oplegnathus fasciatus were collected off the Gijang, Korea coast. A total of 203 juvenile O. fasciatus were examined, and the range of total length (TL) was 7.9-31.0 mm. The most important prey component of O. fasciatus was Copepods, with 75.0% in IRI (index of relative importance) index. Among Copepods, Paracalanus parvus s.l. in the Calanoida was the most significant dietary component. Cladocera was the second important prey component. Pisces, Amphipoda, Decapoda, and the other preys accounted for less than 1.8% of the diet by IRI index. The feeding strategy showed that O. fasciatus held a specialist niche with a considerable individual specialization. The result of analysis in ontogenetic changes was significantly exhibited among size classes. The proportion of Copepods decreased as increasing in body size, whereas the consumption of Cladocera, Pisces, Amphipoda, and Decapoda increased gradually. As body size increased, both the mean numbers of prey per gut (mN/Gut) and the mean volume of prey per gut (mV/Gut) constantly increased.

Nowadays, inclusion of antioxidants such as, vitamin E (vit E) in aquafeeds is imperative for optimum yield and improved product quality. Therefore, the present study was designed to evaluate the growth performance, antioxidant enzymes status, thiobarbuteric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and fatty acid composition of muscles of Cirrhinus mrigala fed with vit E. Five semi-purified diets designed containing vit E at 0.0, 30.0, 60.0, 90.0, and 120.0 mg kg-1 and fed to fish (4.30±0.21 g) in triplicates for 60-days. The growth performance, liver and muscles vit E contents were significantly higher in group D-V (p<0.05). FCR, body indices, muscles TBARS and antioxidant enzymes [catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POX), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)] activity in intestine, liver, kidney and whole body of fish was significantly reduced in group D-V compared to other groups (p<0.05). Moreover, increased muscles polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as, ω-3, ω-6 and decrease unsaturated fatty acids were measured in group D-V (p<0.05). After 15 and 30 days of storage, significantly reduced muscles PUFAs and increased TBARS content were observed in all groups except D-V (p<0.05). In conclusion, dietary vit E supplementation (at 120 mg kg-1) could be a useful approach to improve growth performance and oxidative stability by reducing oxidative stress in C. mrigala.

In the current study, glazing with water and Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis extract (SPE) were used to keep the quality characteristics of Litopenaeus vannamei intact during frozen storage. For this purpose, fresh shrimps were dipped into water diluted with 0.3, 1.0, and 1.3% of SPE solutions before freezing, then glazed and stored at -18°C for 150 days. Quality loss of shrimp was measured by pH, peroxide value (PV), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), thiobarbituric acid (TBA), textural properties, (hardness and cohesiveness) and sensory characteristics. The variation range of pH, PV, TVB-N, and TBA after 150 days increased to 7.67–7.82, 2.69–2.75 meq per kg O2 lipid, 28.04–29.92 mg/100g, 2.48–2.81 mg per kg MDA, respectively. The values of cohesiveness, hardness and sensory of all groups decreased after 150 days. Results showed that compared to the unglazed control samples, glazing treatment reduced the quality loss of shrimp during the 150 days of frozen storage. Results also illustrated that Spirulina glazed shrimp samples had lower TVB-N, PV, TBA, and higher textural and sensory properties compared to the other treatments.

Polychaetes are the most abundant taxon in benthic communities. The polychaete assemblages on the Iranian Caspian Sea coast were studied during the summer of 2016 and winter of 2017 to examine the spatial-temporal variability in diversity and community structure, as well as their relationships with the main environmental variables. As a representative of the study area, fifteen stations at 1, 3, and 5 m depths were chosen. Capitella capitata was reported for the first time in the Caspian Sea. Four species were found: Streblospio gynobranchiata, Alitta succinea, Hypania invalida, and Capitella capitata.  The eastern transect (Gorgan Bay) had the highest total abundance of polychaetes (15146 ind.m2) with increasing in the abundance of S. gynobranchiata. Furthermore, S. gynobranchiata appears to be well-distributed in this sea and plays the most prominent role in the community structure. A. succinea, S. gynobranchiata, and C. capitata showed an increasing trend from the western to the eastern parts of the shoreline. Changes in polychaetes abundance can be attributed to changes in the sediment type, with western transects containing more sand and eastern transects comprising silt-loam. Total polychaete abundance was correlated with salinity, water temperature, depth, dissolved oxygen, Total Organic Matter and sediment characteristics in the summer and winter seasons, according to the Canonical correlation analysis. S. gynobranchiata and C. capitata, as invasive species, may have altered the current polychaete community distribution, structure, and diversity in the southeast Caspian Sea. The disappearance of some species and the decrease in species richness could be due to the success of S. gynobranchiata in the competition for resources and space. Other conditions such as environmental factors and pollutants can also affect the presence of sensitive and tolerant organisms.

The current study was performed to evaluate the effect of dietary Persian hogweed (Heracleum persicum) powder (PHP) on growth, hematological and immunological parameters in rainbow trout. The fish with an average weight of 23.38±0.58 (g) were randomly assigned into five groups in triplicates. Diets were prepared by supplementing five levels of 0 (control), 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% PHP to a basal diet and fed for 60 days. The addition of 2% PHP significantly improved weight gain, specific growth rate, and feed conversion ratio compared to 0.5% PHP during 30 days (p<0.05). PHP also diminished whole-body fat, after 30 days (p<0.05). Hematological factors showed the enhancements of white and red blood cell counts in the fish fed 1 and 1.5% PHP (p>0.05). Moreover, the addition of 2% PHP improved Hb (p<0.05) after 30 days. On the day 60th, WBC count was significantly higher in the fish that received 1.5% PHP than 0.5% PHP (p<0.05). According to the biochemical analysis the highest concentration of alkaline phosphatase was observed in the fish fed with the control diet and 0.5% PHP (p<0.05). In contrast, cholesterol and triglyceride values reduced by PHP levels on day 60 (p<0.05). Immunological parameters indicated that total protein and globulin were significantly improved by the addition of 1.5 and 2% PHP during 60 days (p<0.05). Lysozyme activity was enhanced by the diets containing 1 and 1.5% PHP after 30 and 60 days (p<0.05). Besides, higher resistance against Yersinia ruckeri was obtained by the administration of 1 and 1.5% PHP. Altogether, supplementation of 1.5% PHP is suggested in the diet of rainbow trout because of partially increased immune indices without showing damages to the liver during 30 days.

In the current study, the combination of ultrasound and microwave methods (UM) has been used for the extraction of fucoidan from Nizamuddinia zanardinii and the effect of this method on the chemical and monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, cytotoxic (against human cervical cancer cell (HeLa) and hepatocellular carcinoma cell (HepG2)), and immunomodulatory activities of the recovered fucoidan have also been investigated. The fucoidan yield under UM method was 5.53%. The extracted fucoidan chemically included 45.87% carbohydrate, 10.17% protein, 27.16% sulphate, and 1.1% uronic acid. The fucose (35.65%), mannose (28.94%), galactose (26.35%), xylose (7.74%), and glucose (1.33%) were the main monosaccharides of the extracted fucoidan. The average molecular weight of fucoidan was 748 kDa. The results also demonstrated that the extracted fucoidan had 62.41-78.08% and 62.45-70.29 % cytotoxic activity for HeLa and HepG2 cells, respectively. The nitric oxide (NO) production of RAW264.7 cells was increased with increasing the concentration of fucoidan and maximum NO production was found to be 37.79 µmol at 50 μg/mL.

After the first outbreak of Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND) in China in 2009, this disease has been still considered a globally dangerous disease in shrimp aquaculture industry. Currently, there is no effective method to prevent and treat AHPND. Therefore, rapid detection methods which could avert and control this disease in shrimp were considered the most effective strategy. In 2021, a new PCR reaction was established that can simultaneously detect AHPND and mutant-AHPND. Intending to develop a PCR kit, the PCR procedure including a pre-enrichment step and DNA-extracted method was established to conduct the PCR reaction. The new PCR procedure was verified with a detection limit of 5.103 CFU/mL. This detection limit was two times higher than the conventional PCR methods, which are currently used to detect AHPND. Vibrio parahaemolyticus showed the best growth at 37°C in the broth with hepatopancreas of shrimp. A simple boiling method to extract DNA in bacterial broth with shrimp tissues was also modified. The PCR procedure has successfully been validated on 42 AHPND-suspecting samples. These results would be developed into a novel standard procedure using a PCR kit for rapid detection of AHPND and related mutant-AHPND for rapid disease diagnosis in shrimp farms.

Baetis (Rhodobaetis) braaschi is an Ephemeropteran species with a vast territory in the world with its eastern limit ends in Iran. This study was conducted to investigate the COI gene sequences of B. braaschi from Hablehrood River, Tehran, Iran. In this study, a molecular database of 780 bp was analyzed. The intraspecific genetic difference was found to be insignificant. The phylogenetic analysis identified that four haplotypes (58227, 23419, 28407, and 34719) from Hablehrood River highly supported clusters belonging to B. braaschi. Topology of the evolution tree on the basis of maximum likelihood method showed that the samples collected in this study were monophyletic with the samples recorded for the Czech Republic.

Aquatic organisms are currently used as bio-indicators to determine the water quality of rivers in many countries. In this study, the results of Karun Macroinvertebrate Tolerance Index (KMTI) as a bioindicator and Revised Iranian Water Quality Index (RIWQI) as a physicochemical index were compared to evaluate water quality. For this purpose, water and benthic macroinvertebrate samples were collected from seven stations in four seasons in 2019. According to the RIWQI and KMTI index values, water quality at the stations was evaluated between 37.21 to 75.98 and 2.9 to 6.21, respectively, falling into poor, medium, and good categories. In this study, KMTI index had a significant correlation with RIWQI index (p<0.01). Also, both indices had a significant correlation with total dissolved solids (TDS), oxygen saturation (DO%), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nitrate (NO3), phosphate (PO4), turbidity (NTU), and fecal coliform (p<0.01). The values of KMTI index declined when these water quality parameters increased, which can be caused as a result of the parameters' impact on decline in sensitive species. The obtained results from KMTI and RIWQI indices demonstrated that tourism activities, restaurants, industries, and residential areas imposed a surplus of environmental burdens in some parts of Jajrud River. Therefore, river basin management must be implemented to rehabilitate the impacts due to human manipulation, improve the water quality, reduce public health risks, and proceed toward sustainable development.

There are several studies on biological activities of echinoderms’ secondary metabolites. Sea cucumbers are known to contain natural products with biological activities. Different sea cucumber species exist in Iranian waters of Oman Sea. We investigated cytotoxic and anti- bacterial activities of Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota form Chabahar Bay. We derived four methanolic, chloroformic, n-hexane and aqueous extracts of sea cucumber, H. (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota. The cytotoxic activity of these extracts were evaluated by MTT and brine shrimp lethality assays. Disc diffusion method was used to evaluate antibacterial effect of H. (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota extracts against two gram negative pathogenic bacteria: Escherichia coli (PTCC 1399) and E. coli K 12 (ATCC 23716), and two gram positive pathogenic bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 19117). Methanolic extract (100 mg/mL) was effective on S. aureus and L. monocytogenes while aqueous extract of H. (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota (100 mg/mL) demonstrated antibacterial effect against all tested strain. Chloroformic extract (100 mg/mL) was effective on both E. coli K 12 and S. aureus, while n-hexane extract (100 mg/mL) was just effective on E. coli. Studying brine shrimp lethality assay indicated that all experimented extracts had strong cytotoxic activity with LC50 = 1.2–2.3 µg/mL. MEHL, ChEHL and n-hEHL showed cytotoxic effect on Caco-2 with 0/6, 0/8 and 1 mg/mL LC50, respectively. Due to our results, it can be said that Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota extracts are potential antibacterial and cytotoxic agents.

The present research was conducted on 600 zebrafish in four parallel groups, including two control and two experimental groups. The experimental groups (T1, T2) were fed commercial fish feed, along with probiotic Lacticaseibacillus casei, while the other two groups (T3, C) only received commercial feed. At the end of four weeks of the feeding, Fish in the groups T2 and T3 were divided and exposed to Aeromonas hydrophila at two concentrations included 1.5×108 (T2 and T3) and1.5×104 (N2 and N3). In this study, the colonization of Lactobacillus in the gastrointestinal tract in the first and last days of the feeding, weight and length in days 0, 15 and 30, and intestinal histology and expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) genes using real-time PCR method on days 0, 15, 30 and 35 were done. Based on the results of the present study, feeding with L. casei led to the improved the expression of immune-related genes, enhancement epithelial integrity and goblet cells in the intestine, and weight and length of zebrafish (p<0.05). While it had no significant effect on the rate of colonization of Lactobacillus in the gastrointestinal tract (p>0.05). This results revealed that probiotic feeding led to the reduction of the mRNA levels of IL-1β and TNF-α genes before exposure to the A. hydrophila (p<0.05). while, after exposure, there was a significant increase in the expression level of genes. This elevation was significantly higher in T3 and N3 than in T2 and N2 (p<0.05). As the results indicated, dietary supplementation of L. casei can be effective in enhancement of growth and protection of zebrafish against A. hydrophila by improving their mucosal immunity and modulating inflammatory responses. Since zebrafish is an animal model with genetic compatibility with humans and A. hydrophila pathogenicity in humans, the results obtained can be generalized to humans.

Aluminum (Al) is a major concern in acidic environments as it can lead to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce oxidative stress in the host. Assessment of Al-resistant microorganisms can help scientists to discover their mechanisms and improve bioremediation techniques. The present study aimed to characterize Al-resistant microalgae by screening industrial wastewater microorganisms. The microalgae were treated with 0, 10, and 100 µM Al. Then, H2O2, malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX) values were measured. In addition, the effects of time (30-300 min), Al concentration (0-370 µM), and pH (4.0-6.5) on Al removal were investigated using the design-expert software. The efficiency of various biosorbents in Al removal was also evaluated in the optimal conditions of the final experiment. According to the results, Scenedesmus sp. was the most resistant microalgae and produced more biomass at 100 µM. Moreover, the POX and CAT activities of Scenedesmus sp. were increased by the high Al concentrations. In optimum conditions (81.60 µM Al, pH 5.8, 45 minutes), free cells (without modifications) were effective in Al biosorption (93.56%).

Larval ingress, diversity and distributions were studied for a period of 13 months along the critically vulnerable areas of the tropical Kali estuary, Karwar, West coast of India. Planktonic and hydrological samplings were carried out following the tidal regime and lunar periodicity at Zone (1) (categorized as euhaline <30 PSU to polyhaline 18.0 to 30 PSU in condition), subsequently, Zone (2) (mesohaline 5.0 to 18.0 PSU to oligohaline 0.5 to 5.0 PSU). A total of 26 different larval forms were recorded, representing 10 taxa, of which crustaceans are dominant. The predominant larval forms documented during the study period were Copepod nauplii, Barnacle nauplii, Eggs & fish larvae and Crab zoea, respectively. Larval forms, viz., Planula, Cercaria, Rhabditiform, Alima (Squilla), Bipinnaria, Ophiopluteus and Doliolaria distributions was restricted to euhaline zone due to tidal ingress. The distribution of Bivalve, Crab and Shrimp larvae along the mesohaline zone represents larval recruitment in their preferred habitat. The larval distribution showed typical seasonal variation governed by hydrological parameters and tidal regimes. Multivariate RDA analysis of larval distributions attributed to salinity and water temperature. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index was higher (2.92) during the post-monsoon season in particular to full moon of the flood tide. Overall, the Kali Estuary represents a suitable habitat for juvenile nurture and larval ingress enhances the estuarine productivity.

Aquatic organisms that account for almost half of the world's biodiversity provide valuable sources of bioactive compounds exhibiting a number of physiological and health promoting functions, which make them promising ingredients for application in food and pharmaceutical. Saurida tumbil protein hydrolysate was prepared by papain enzyme hydrolysis and its anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects were investigated in male mice. Fifty male mice were randomly assigned into control (C), chronic resistant stress induced depression and anxiety (CRS) and intervention (CRS mice receiving fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) at 100, 300 and 600 mg/kg) groups. Normal saline and FPH were given to the mice 30 min before inducing CRS by gavage for 21 days. Anxiety and depression were evaluated by elevated plus-maze and open field tests. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) level of mice serum were determined. The treatment of CRS mice with FPH significantly ameliorated the negative effects of CRS and significantly increased the number of entering into the open arms and also the time elapsed in the open arms of the elevated plus-maze (p<0.05). FPH administration also significantly increased the number of crossed squares and the number of grooming and rearing in open field tests (p<0.05). The administration of FPH at all studied doses to CRS mice increased TAC (p<0.05) and decreased MDA level (p>0.05). In conclusion, S. tumbil protein hydrolysate showed anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effects possibly through its antioxidant activity, which can be suggested for enrichment or designing human functional foods.

An experiment was conducted to test efficiency of biofloc technique for production of Indian white prawn, Fenneropenaeus indicus in HDPE liner ponds (300 m2) for 90 days.  There were control (water exchange to maintain transparency at 40-50 cm) and treatment (zero water exchange) ponds and both were triplicated. Soya hull and molasses were added to treatment ponds as carbon sources to induce biofloc formation. Post larvae (PL20) were stocked at the rate of 50/m2 and fed with a standard fishmeal based supplementary pellet feed. Physico-chemical parameters of water, microbial and plankton population, immune response, physical quality and shrimp growth were monitored during the period. High growth and survival was observed in treatment ponds compared to control. Heterotrophic bacteria, phytoplankton population and total haemocyte count (THC) were found to be enhanced in treatment ponds. A strong linear relationship (R2=0.8758) was found between growth rate and biofloc content. Shrimp raised through biofloc culture strategy showed better colour and quality compared to control.  Biofloc technology is an ideal culture method for biosecure production of white shrimp in semi arid lands.