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The effects of venting and decompression on Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) in the marine ornamental aquarium fish trade

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Title The effects of venting and decompression on Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) in the marine ornamental aquarium fish trade
Names Munday, Emily S. (creator)
Tissot, Brian N. (creator)
Heidel, Jerry R. (creator)
Miller-Morgan, Tim (creator)
Date Issued 2015-02-17 (iso8601)
Note This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by PeerJ. The published article can be found at: https://peerj.com/.
Abstract Each year, over 45 countries export 30 million fish from coral reefs as part of the
global marine ornamental aquarium trade. This catch volume is partly influenced
by collection methods that cause mortality. Barotrauma in fish resulting from forced
ascent from depth can contribute to post-collection mortality. However, implementing
decompression stops during ascent can prevent barotrauma. Conversely,
venting (puncturing the swim bladder to release expanded internal gas) following
ascent can mitigate some signs of barotrauma like positive buoyancy. Here, we
evaluate how decompression and venting affect stress and mortality in the Yellow
Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens). We examined the effects of three ascent treatments,
each with decompression stops of varying frequency and duration, coupled with
or without venting, on sublethal effects and mortality using histology and serum
cortisol measurements. In fish subjected to ascent without decompression stops or
venting, a mean post-collection mortality of 6.2% occurred within 24 h of capture.
Common collection methods in the fishery, ascent without decompression stops
coupled with venting, or one long decompression stop coupled with venting, resulted
in no mortality. Histopathologic examination of heart, liver, head kidney, and swim
bladder tissues in fish 0d and 21d post-collection revealed no significant barotraumaor
venting-related lesions in any treatment group. Ascent without decompression
stops resulted in significantly higher serum cortisol than ascent with many stops,
while venting alone did not affect cortisol. Future work should examine links in the
supply chain following collection to determine if further handling and transport
stressors affect survivorship and sublethal effects.
Genre Article
Access Condition http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
Topic Aquaculture
Identifier Munday, E. S., Tissot, B. N., Heidel, J. R., & Miller-Morgan, T. (2015). The effects of venting and decompression on Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) in the marine ornamental aquarium fish trade. PeerJ, 3, e756. doi:10.7717/peerj.756

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