<b>Stress responses in juvenile pacu (<em>Piaractus mesopotamicus</em>) submitted to repeated air exposure</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascianimsci.v30i1.3618

Abstract

Pacu juveniles (5.2 ± 1.5 g) were submitted to two one-minute air exposures in a 24 h interval, and sampled before the exposure (control) and 5, 15, 30 and 60 min, 24 and 48 h afterwards for whole-body cortisol, sodium, potassium and calcium ion concentrations. For the first air exposure, there was a trend of increased cortisol concentration after 15 min, whereas in the second air exposure, the cortisol concentration increased significantly within 5 min after stress was induced. Sodium ion concentration increased significantly 24 h after both air exposures. Potassium concentration presented fluctuations over the experimental period. Calcium ion concentration increased progressively from 5 to 30 min, in both air exposures. The repeated air exposures exacerbated the cortisol response, but they did not affect the recovery ability of pacu over the experimental period. Additionally, the whole-body cortisol measurement might be a reliable indicator of stress, when sampled fish are smaller and blood volumes are very low, making samples inadequate for analysis