Tropical labrids Hemigymnus melapterus sampled underwater had low plasma levels of cortisol, glucose, and lactate. Plasma cortisol levels were elevated by capture stress within 5-6 min, while glucose and lactate levels were not. Plasma levels of cortisol and glucose increased after 2-4 h of handling and transport to the laboratory. Levels of cortisol and glucose fell with laboratory acclimation back to values similar to those found in wild fish. Parasitism by gnathiid isopods across an order of magnitude of isopod numbers had no effect on plasma levels of cortisol or glucose. Thus, H. melapterus has a stress response similar to that shown by temperate species, and relatively high parasite loads are not apparently stressful to fish in the wild. This may be related to the counterproductive effects of physiological stress responses on the immune system or behaviour-modulated processes that counter parasitic invasion. (C) 2000 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences
Research Group:	Fisheries sciences
Research Field:	Aquaculture
Objective Division:	Animal Production and Animal Primary Products
Objective Group:	Fisheries - aquaculture
Objective Field:	Fisheries - aquaculture not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Pankhurst, NW (Professor Ned Pankhurst)
ID Code:	18525
Year Published:	2000
Web of Science® Times Cited:	108
Deposited By:	TAFI - Aquaculture
Deposited On:	2000-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-11-07
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