Tag retention in and effects of passive integrated transponder tagging on survival and swimming performance of a small-bodied darter.

Fisheries biologists have been hesitant to use passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in small-bodied fishes (40-200 mm TL) such as darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) because of the fishes' size and potential effect on swimming performance. The authors used constant acceleration trials to evaluate the swimming performance of Arkansas darters Etheostoma cragini in control (no incision or tag), sham (incision and suture) or PIT tagged (surgically implanted 8 × 1.4 mm intra-peritoneal PIT tag) treatments. Tag retention and fish survival were monitored for up to 199 days post-tagging. Maximum swimming velocity did not differ between control, sham and PIT tag treatments, nor was maximum swimming velocity affected by the tagging procedure. Tag retention was 100%, and the overall survival of tagged fish was 88% in the swimming study, and 100% in the long-term study, suggesting that small PIT tags are suitable for use in darters. The authors include a brief meta-analysis on the results reported by 20 studies that PIT tagged small-bodied fishes, representing 38 species and nine families of freshwater fish.

Evaluation of antibody response to an adjuvanted hapten-protein vaccine as a potential inhibitor of sexual maturation for farmed Atlantic salmon.

An experimental contraceptive vaccine was evaluated in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). A peptide derived from the beta subunit of luteinizing hormone (LH) was conjugated to two different carrier proteins, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH), and formulated with one of four immunostimulants in a water-in-oil emulsion. Specific antibody responses to the peptide and each carrier protein were evaluated. While the antibody response to KLH was stronger than the response to BSA, both carrier proteins stimulated comparable antibody responses to the LH peptide. The immunostimulant proved to be more important for enhancing the LH peptide antibody response than the carrier protein selection; vaccines containing a combination of Aeromonas salmonicida and Vibrio anguillarum stimulated significantly greater LH peptide antibody production than any of the other three immunostimulants evaluated at 12 weeks post-vaccination. This study provides proof-of-concept for specific antibody production against a hapten-carrier protein antigen in Atlantic salmon and reinforces the importance of vaccine immunostimulant selection.

Predator-induced phenotypic plasticity in metabolism and rate of growth: rapid adaptation to a novel environment.

Novel environments often impose directional selection for a new phenotypic optimum. Novel environments, however, can also change the distribution of phenotypes exposed to selection by inducing phenotypic plasticity. Plasticity can produce phenotypes that either align with or oppose the direction of selection. When plasticity and selection are parallel, plasticity is considered adaptive because it provides a better pairing between the phenotype and the environment. If the plastic response is incomplete and falls short of producing the optimum phenotype, synergistic selection can lead to genetic divergence and bring the phenotype closer to the optimum. In contrast, non-adaptive plasticity should increase the strength of selection, because phenotypes will be further from the local optimum, requiring antagonistic selection to overcome the phenotype-environment mismatch and facilitate adaptive divergence. We test these ideas by documenting predator-induced plasticity for resting metabolic rate and growth rate in populations of the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) adapted to high and low predation. We find reduced metabolic rates and growth rates when cues from a predator are present during development, a pattern suggestive of adaptive and non-adaptive plasticity, respectively. When we compared populations recently transplanted from a high-predation environment into four streams lacking predators, we found evidence for rapid adaptive evolution both in metabolism and growth rate. We discuss the implications for predicting how traits will respond to selection, depending on the type of plasticity they exhibit.

The effects of Myxobolus cerebralis on the physiological performance of whirling disease resistant and susceptible strains of rainbow trout.

The development of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss strains that are resistant to whirling disease has shown promise as a management tool for populations in areas where Myxobolus cerebralis is present. However, the physiological effects of the disease on characteristics necessary for fish survival in natural river conditions have not been tested in many of these strains. Five rainbow trout strains were evaluated for their swimming ability and growth characteristics in relation to M. cerebralis exposure: the resistant German rainbow trout (GR) strain (Hofer strain), the susceptible Colorado River rainbow trout (CRR) strain, and three intermediate (hybrid) strains (F1 = GR x CRR; F2 = F1 x F1; B2 = backcross of F1 x CRR). Three broad response patterns among strain and exposure were evident in our study. First, exposure metrics, growth performance, and swimming ability differed among strains. Second, exposure to the parasite did not necessarily produce differences in growth or swimming ability. Exposure to M. cerebralis did not affect batch weight for any strain, and critical swimming velocity did not differ between exposed and unexposed families. Third, although exposure did not necessarily affect growth or swimming ability, individuals that exhibited clinical deformities did show reduced growth and swimming performance; fish with clinical deformities were significantly smaller and had lower critical swimming velocities than exposed fish without clinical deformities. Research and management have focused on GR x CRR hybrid strains; however, given the performance of the GR strain in our study, it should not be discounted as a potential broodstock. Additional field trials comparing the GR and F1 strains should be conducted before wholesale adoption of the GR strain to reestablish rainbow trout populations in Colorado.