Fish skin mucus contains several immune substances that provide the first line of defence against a broad spectrum of pathogens although they are poorly studied to date. Terminal carbohydrate composition and levels of total IgM antibodies, several immune-related enzymes (lysozyme, peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, esterases, proteases and antiproteases) as well as the bactericidal activity (aga...

In mammals, a complex interaction between the immune and the reproductive systems has been described, in which testicular immune cells produce cytokines and growth factors which modulate gonad functions, while specific gonad cells influence the immune response in this organ. In this study we describe the presence of acidophilic granulocytes in the testis of the hermaphrodite teleost fish gilthe...

The pituitary hormone prolactin is a pleiotropic endocrine factor that plays a major role in the regulation of ion balance in fish, with demonstrated actions mainly in the gills and kidney. The role of prolactin in intestinal ion transport remains little studied. In marine fish, which have high drinking rates, epithelial bicarbonate secretion in the intestine produces luminal carbonate aggregat...

The in vivo and in vitro pathogenic activities of whole cells and extracellular products of Vibrio alginolyticus for cultured gilt-head sea bream were evaluated. The 50% lethal doses ranged from 5.4 x 10(4) to 1.0 x 10(6) CFU/g of body weight. The strains examined had the ability to adhere to skin, gill, and intestinal mucus of sea bream and to cultured cells of a chinook salmon embryo cell lin...

Ongoing climate change is predicted to affect the distribution and abundance of aquatic ectotherms owing to increasing constraints on organismal physiology, in particular involving the metabolic scope (MS) available for performance and fitness. The oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance (OCLTT) hypothesis prescribes MS as an overarching benchmark for fitness-related performance and assu...

The effects of an N-terminal peptide (amino acids 1-38) of Fugu parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP 1-38) on calcium regulation of larval sea bream were investigated in seawater (36 per thousand) and after transfer to dilute seawater (12 per thousand). Exposure to PTHrP 1-38 evoked a 1.5-fold increase in calcium influx in both full-strength and dilute seawater. Calcium influx in dilute s...

The effects of the dietary administration of two heat-inactivated whole bacteria from the Vibrionaceae family, singly or combined, on innate immune response of the seabream were studied. The two bacteria (Pdp11 and 51M6), which were obtained from the skin of gilthead seabream, showed in vitro characteristics that suggested they could be considered as potential fish probiotics. The fish were fed...

In this paper, 981 reared juveniles of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) were analysed, 721 of which were from a commercial hatchery located in Northern Italy (Venice, Italy) and 260 from the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (Crete, Greece). These individuals were from 4 different egg batches, for a total of 10 different lots. Each egg batch was split into two lots after hatching, and reared...