TY - JOUR
T1 - The Iconic Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara)
T2 - A Comprehensive Assessment of Health Indices in the Southeastern United States Population
AU - Malinowski, Christopher R.
AU - Perrault, Justin R.
AU - Coleman, Felicia C.
AU - Koenig, Christopher C.
AU - Stilwell, Justin M.
AU - Cray, Carolyn
AU - Stacy, Nicole I.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank D. Murie for aging and histologically confirming sex for all individual fish. We thank W. Hawkins and R. Overstreet for their initial help with histopathological review. Countless volunteers assisted in sample collection, for which this study would not have been possible. Although not an exhaustive volunteer list, we thank S. Adams, S. Briegel, L. Bueno, C. Coppenrath, J. Cusick, R. Ellis, M. Faletti, C. Gabel, T. Grogan, A. Heil, M. Hruby, R. Johnson, B. Keller, J. Locascio, C. Matechik, R. McKenzie, D. McNutt, C. Mott, A. Nardelli, M. Newman, K. Newton, N. Ragbeer, T. Snow, C. Stallings, B. Talwar, B. Tezak, O. Tzadik, M. Violich, K. Wall, and N. Zenzola. We thank C. Dugan for her work in microscopic analysis and quantification of PMAs. We thank Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve for use of their facilities, which enabled sample collection in the Ten Thousand Islands. Funding. Funding for this study was provided by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant NA11NMF4330123 awarded to CK and FC, Mote Marine Laboratory's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to JP, Jack Winn Gramling Research Award in Marine Biology awarded to CM, and Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory scholarships awarded to CM.
Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant NA11NMF4330123 awarded to CK and FC, Mote Marine Laboratory’s Postdoctoral
PY - 2020/9/25
Y1 - 2020/9/25
N2 - The Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) population has rebounded from near extinction to an international status as vulnerable due in part to regional species recovery efforts. The southeastern US population has been recovering with the main spawning locations off the coasts of Florida. Despite their economic importance to the catch-and-release fishery and the dive industry, and their ecological importance as ecosystem engineers resulting in positive impacts on reefs and species richness, baseline health assessment information is very limited in this species to date. The objectives of this study were to: (1) establish reference intervals for hematological and plasma biochemical analytes, and report immune function, oxidative stress, and vitellogenin in mature males and females; (2) evaluate total length, age, and sex in relation to blood analytes in juvenile and mature fish; (3) assess analytes across sampled months in mature male and female fish; and (4) describe the typical light microscopy findings in liver and gill biopsies, including quantitative assessment of pigmented macrophage aggregates. Health indices are reported as reference intervals when applicable, or otherwise descriptively. Blood analyte correlations with length and age, sex differences, and comparisons across months provided relevant physiological considerations, including differences in protein/energy metabolism, tissue growth, sexual maturation, active reproduction, and antigenic stimulation. Liver histology identified changes associated with life stage, active reproduction, or of subclinically to clinically insignificant infectious and/or inflammatory processes. Hepatocellular vacuolation and pigmented macrophage aggregates were prominent. Pigmented macrophage aggregates correlated with total length, presumably from continuous antigenic stimulation and/or metabolic changes as fish grow. Gill histological findings were subtle. The data presented herein provide an essential baseline assessment of a suite of health variables in an iconic marine teleost species, serves as a springboard for future studies relevant to conservation physiology, and allows for population-level applications for conservation management and policy.
AB - The Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) population has rebounded from near extinction to an international status as vulnerable due in part to regional species recovery efforts. The southeastern US population has been recovering with the main spawning locations off the coasts of Florida. Despite their economic importance to the catch-and-release fishery and the dive industry, and their ecological importance as ecosystem engineers resulting in positive impacts on reefs and species richness, baseline health assessment information is very limited in this species to date. The objectives of this study were to: (1) establish reference intervals for hematological and plasma biochemical analytes, and report immune function, oxidative stress, and vitellogenin in mature males and females; (2) evaluate total length, age, and sex in relation to blood analytes in juvenile and mature fish; (3) assess analytes across sampled months in mature male and female fish; and (4) describe the typical light microscopy findings in liver and gill biopsies, including quantitative assessment of pigmented macrophage aggregates. Health indices are reported as reference intervals when applicable, or otherwise descriptively. Blood analyte correlations with length and age, sex differences, and comparisons across months provided relevant physiological considerations, including differences in protein/energy metabolism, tissue growth, sexual maturation, active reproduction, and antigenic stimulation. Liver histology identified changes associated with life stage, active reproduction, or of subclinically to clinically insignificant infectious and/or inflammatory processes. Hepatocellular vacuolation and pigmented macrophage aggregates were prominent. Pigmented macrophage aggregates correlated with total length, presumably from continuous antigenic stimulation and/or metabolic changes as fish grow. Gill histological findings were subtle. The data presented herein provide an essential baseline assessment of a suite of health variables in an iconic marine teleost species, serves as a springboard for future studies relevant to conservation physiology, and allows for population-level applications for conservation management and policy.
KW - conservation ecology
KW - hematology
KW - histology
KW - marine teleost
KW - native immune functions
KW - oxidative stress
KW - plasma biochemistry
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U2 - 10.3389/fvets.2020.00635
DO - 10.3389/fvets.2020.00635
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85092388894
VL - 7
JO - Frontiers in Veterinary Science
JF - Frontiers in Veterinary Science
SN - 2297-1769
M1 - 635
ER -