Acute Toxicity of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate to Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei Postlarvae in Low-Salinity Water.

Shrimp farming in low salinities waters is an alternative to increasing production, and counteracting disease problems in brackish and marine waters. However, in low-salinity waters, toxicity of nitrogen compounds increases, and there is no available data of its acute toxicity in shrimp postlarvae. This study determined the acute toxicity of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in Litopenaeus vannamei postlarvae in 1 and 3 g/L salinity, as well as the safety levels. The LC50 confirms that nitrite is more toxic than ammonia and nitrate in low salinity waters, and that its toxicity increases with a decrease in salinity. The safe levels estimated for salinities of 1 and 3 g/L were 0.54 and 0.81 mg/L for total ammonia-N, 0.17 and 0.25 mg/L for NO2-N, and 5.6 and 21.5 mg/L for NO3-N, respectively.

Physiological changes in the hemolymph of juvenile shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei to sublethal nitrite and nitrate stress in low-salinity waters.

Juveniles of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (3.3 ±â€¯0.4 g) were exposed separately to nitrite (0.0, 1.1, 2.6, and 5.3 mg/L nitrogen as nitrite [NO2--N]) and nitrate (0, 90, 225 and 400 mg/L nitrogen as nitrate [NO3--N]) concentrations equivalent to 0, 10, 25, and 50% of the LC50-96 h value of NO2--N and NO3--N in low salinity water (3 g/L). Shrimps responded to nitrite and nitrate according to changes in oxyhemocyanin, glucose, lactate and ion levels in the hemolymph after 6, 12, 24, and 48 h of exposure. Oxyhemocyanin levels decreased with increasing nitrite and nitrate levels and were higher at 50% exposure to the contaminants. Compared to the control, glucose and lactate increased significantly at 50% exposure to nitrite and nitrate, particularly at 12 and 24 h. Na+ in the hemolymph changed with nitrite and nitrate, while K+ only changed ˜with nitrite.

Evaluation of a new Argovit as an antiviral agent included in feed to protect the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei against White Spot Syndrome Virus infection.

In this study, four experimental assays were conducted to evaluate the use of a new silver nanoparticle formulation named Argovit-4, which was prepared with slight modifications to enhance its biological activity against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in shrimp culture. The goals of these assays were to (1) determine the protective effect of Argovit-4 against WSSV, (2) determine whether Argovit-4 supplemented in feed exhibits toxicity towards shrimp, (3) determine whether Argovit-4 as antiviral additive in feed can prevent or delay/reduce WSSV-induced shrimp mortality, and (4) determine whether Argovit-4 supplemented in feed alters the early stages of the shrimp immune response. In bioassay 1, several viral inocula calibrated at 7 SID50(shrimp infectious doses 50% endpoint) were exposed to 40, 100, 200 and 1,000 ng/SID50 of Ag+ and then intramuscularly injected into shrimp for 96 h. In bioassay 2, shrimp were fed Argovit-4 supplemented in feed at different concentrations (10, 100 and 1,000 µg per gram of feed) for 192 h. In bioassay 3, shrimp were treated with Argovit-4 supplemented in feed at different concentrations and then challenged against WSSV for 192 h. In bioassay 4, quantitative real-time RT-qPCR was performed to measure the transcriptional responses of five immune-relevant genes in haemocytes of experimental shrimp treated with Argovit-4 supplemented in feed at 0, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h. The intramuscularly injected Argovit-4 showed a dose-dependent effect (p < 0.05) on the cumulative shrimp mortality from 0-96 h post-infection. In the second bioassay, shrimp fed Argovit-4 supplemented in feed did not show signs of toxicity for the assayed doses over the 192-h experiment. The third and fourth bioassays showed that shrimp challenged with WSSV at 1,000 µg/g feed exhibited reduced mortality without altering the expression of some immune system-related genes according to the observed level of transcriptional. This study is the first show that the new Argovit-4 formulation has potential as an antiviral additive in feed against WSSV and demonstrates a practical therapeutic strategy to control WSSV and possibly other invertebrate pathogens in shrimp aquaculture.

Toxicity of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate to Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles in low-salinity water in single and ternary exposure experiments and their environmental implications.

Information on toxicity of nitrogen compounds for Litopenaeus vannamei in coastal ecosystems and culture under low salinity is scarce. Acute toxicity trials were conducted in L. vannamei to determine the single and combined effects of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at a salinity of 3 g/L. The 96 h-LC50 was 29.0 mg/L for total ammonia nitrogen (TAN); 10.6 mg/L for nitrogen as nitrite (NO2--N); and 900 mg/L for nitrogen as nitrate (NO3--N). The joint effects of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate exposure were antagonistic at 24-72 h; and additive from 72 to 96 h. The proposed safety levels of single exposure to TAN, NO2--N and NO3--N for L. vannamei are 1.45, 0.53 and 45.0 mg/L, respectively. When in mixture, the proposed level of TAN/NO2--N/NO3--N is 0.05 TU (Toxicity Unit) corresponding to 0.48, 0.08 and 14.6 mg/L of TAN, NO2--N and NO3--N, respectively.