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Fishes
Special Issues
Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology
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Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology

A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 7252

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Andrea Miccoli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology, Italian National Research Council (CNR), 60125 Ancona, Italy
Interests: fish physiology; reproductive biology; fish immunity; ecotoxicology; aquaculture; anthropogenic impacts to fish

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity have been demostrated to be especially severe, and the latest research has identified resource over-exploitation, land-use change, climate change, and pollution as major drivers of biodiversity loss. Fish biodiversity in particular, both in marine and freshwater environments, has been profoundly reshaped, with consequences in terms of ecosystem functionality and services yet to be precisely determined.

The present Special Issue aims at advancing the knowledge on the impacts on fish physiology (e.g., reproduction, immune system, and stress) caused by anthropogenic disturbances, and other research areas, including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Pollution, both physical and chemical (e.g., micro- and nanoplastics, endocrine disruptors);
  • Biological invasions;
  • Aquaculture and capture fishery production;
  • Nutrition;
  • Infrastructure projects.

We invite submissions of original articles and short communications leveraging upon in vivo, in vitro, and in silico methods on model and non-model species. The Special Issue accept papers on a rolling basis and will be open for 8 months.

Dr. Andrea Miccoli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pollution
  • anthropogenic impacts
  • fish physiology
  • biodiversity
  • biological invasion

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 6572 KiB  
Article
Bacterial Co-Infection as a Potential Threat to Farmed Flathead Grey Mullet (Mugil cephalus): Phenotypic and Molecular Diagnosis, Histopathology, Immunity Response, and In Vitro Antibacterial Evaluation
by Samia Elbahnaswy, Gehad E. Elshopakey, Medhat S. Shakweer, Elsayed A. A. Eldessouki, Abdelwahab A. Abdelwarith, Elsayed M. Younis, Simon J. Davies and Mai A. M. El-Son
Fishes 2023, 8(7), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8070357 - 10 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1638
Abstract
Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio chlorea, and Enterococcus cloacae were the main bacterial pathogens investigated during recurrent episodes of mortalities among farmed flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) in the Bahar El-Baqar area, Sharqia governorate, Egypt, during the summer season in 2021. [...] Read more.
Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio chlorea, and Enterococcus cloacae were the main bacterial pathogens investigated during recurrent episodes of mortalities among farmed flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) in the Bahar El-Baqar area, Sharqia governorate, Egypt, during the summer season in 2021. Nevertheless, the contamination of water with heavy metals was evaluated. In this study, a total number of sixty moribund and freshly dead Mugil cephalus were examined clinically and upon post-mortem. Then, the bacterial isolates were subjected to bacteriological phenotypic examination, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and antibiotic sensitivity testing. Histopathological screening and the immunity response of naturally infected M. cephalus were also implemented. In areas where bacterial strains were recovered in a high percentage, water contamination with Cu, Fe, and Ni was higher than the permissible limit. The results showed a high similarity (99–100%) to Vibrio and E. cloacae strains using phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA. Most isolates exhibited sensitivity to florfenicol, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin, while they were resistant to erythromycin and amoxicillin. Hemorrhage, oedema, hemosiderosis, and melanomacrophage activation in most affected tissues of infected M. cephalus were detected by light microscopy. Nevertheless, higher levels of AST and ALT, as well as serum inflammatory markers, CRP, and lysozyme activity, were shown in infected fish. There were higher MDA levels, along with a reduction of GSH, SOD, and catalase, in the gills and brain of infected M. cephalus, compared to the control fish. Our obtained data confirmed the high prevalence of Vibrio serovars and E. cloacae in infected grey mullets, describing their histopathological alterations, higher inflammatory response, and oxidative stress impact. These results could be useful indicators for understanding the pathogenesis of these pathogens in correlation with water parameter deterioration. Thus, the emergence of Vibrio and E. cloacae species in this study threatens the brackish water aquaculture industry in Egypt and poses a public health concern. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology)
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13 pages, 1913 KiB  
Article
Acute Effects of Fluoxetine on Stress Responses and Feeding Motivation in Nile Tilapia
by Julia P. G. A. Miranda, Ana Beatriz J. Isaac, Rebeca B. Silva, Leandro C. S. Toledo, Leonardo J. G. Barcellos, Helton Carlos Delicio and Rodrigo Egydio Barreto
Fishes 2023, 8(7), 348; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8070348 - 04 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1199
Abstract
The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine is one of the most commonly administered psychotropic medications; however, it has been recognized as toxic to aquatic life. In this study, we showed that stress responses and feeding motivation in Nile tilapia were affected by acute [...] Read more.
The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine is one of the most commonly administered psychotropic medications; however, it has been recognized as toxic to aquatic life. In this study, we showed that stress responses and feeding motivation in Nile tilapia were affected by acute exposure to fluoxetine. To reach that conclusion, we exposed Nile tilapia to 0, 1 or 10 µg/L (environmentally/biologically relevant doses) of fluoxetine over a 24 h period and then exposed them to a handling stressor. We found that the 10 µg/L dose enhanced cortisol response to stress but caused an earlier decrease in the ventilation boost induced by that stressor. An immediate ventilation boost after stressful stimuli indicates sympathetic activation. Thus, this suggests that fluoxetine decreased sympathetic nervous system activity but augmented hypothalamus–pituitary–interrenal axis activity in the fish. Both feeding latency and ingestion were similar among the tested conditions; however, a multiple logistic regression model revealed that in the presence of a stressor or fluoxetine, the Nile tilapia tended to ingest less food but there was a higher probability of this decrease to be associated with fluoxetine. We concluded that acute exposure to environmentally/biologically relevant fluoxetine concentrations over 24 h acted as a modifying factor for Nile tilapia stress physiology and tended to interfere with feeding motivation. An acute stress response is an emergency reaction that contributes to the recovery of homeostasis. In the presence of fluoxetine, modifications of acute stress responses and the tendency to reduce food intake, which restricts the ability to replace the energy spent on stress responses, could compromise the resumption of homeostasis and an animal’s adjustment to different environmental contexts, such as those associated with aquaculture, in which anthropogenic stressors inevitably occur. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology)
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17 pages, 2271 KiB  
Article
Stress Response to Entrainment Flow Speed near Pump Inlet Fish Screens in Two Model Teleost Species, Anguilla anguilla and Oncorhynchus mykiss
by Andrea Miccoli, Antonio De Luca, Jeremy Bricker, Frederik Tijmen Vriese, Roelof Moll and Giuseppe Scapigliati
Fishes 2023, 8(3), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8030139 - 28 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1677
Abstract
Fish screens are structures associated with pump stations and power plants, that prevent entrainment of fish, but may also be a source of physiological stress, if placed in locations of strong flow speeds that fish are unable to sustain swimming against over time. [...] Read more.
Fish screens are structures associated with pump stations and power plants, that prevent entrainment of fish, but may also be a source of physiological stress, if placed in locations of strong flow speeds that fish are unable to sustain swimming against over time. Herein, the acute response of Anguilla anguilla and Oncorhynchus mykiss to a 30-minute exposure to two water flow regimes was evaluated at the lowest level of the hypothalamus–pituitary–interrenal axis, from blood serum and skin mucus, in a controlled setup presenting a 45° vertically-angled fish screen. Cortisol response was species specific, regardless of the matrix employed. While the flow velocity factor did not describe any variance of eel data, and no statistically significant differences in cortisol concentrations were observed among eel groups, cortisol release in response to flume hydraulics followed a dose-dependent pattern in trout, with a large proportion of the variance described by the model. Mucus cortisol was highly and strongly correlated to serum levels of trout specimens subjected to the strongest flow. Given the established neuromodulatory and molecular roles of cortisol on major fitness-relevant processes, animal welfare implications may be severe, especially considering ever increasing exposure to chronic anthropogenic stressors, resulting in repeated and/or prolonged elevation of circulating glucocorticoids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology)
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20 pages, 9377 KiB  
Article
Gene Expression Profiling of Trematomus bernacchii in Response to Thermal and Stabling Stress
by Samuele Greco, Anastasia Serena Gaetano, Gael Furlanis, Francesca Capanni, Chiara Manfrin, Piero Giulio Giulianini, Gianfranco Santovito, Paolo Edomi, Alberto Pallavicini and Marco Gerdol
Fishes 2022, 7(6), 387; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes7060387 - 13 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2132
Abstract
The Antarctic continent is one of the most pristine environments on planet Earth, yet one of the most fragile and susceptible to the effects of the ongoing climate change. The overwhelming majority of the components of Antarctic marine trophic chain are stenotherm organisms, [...] Read more.
The Antarctic continent is one of the most pristine environments on planet Earth, yet one of the most fragile and susceptible to the effects of the ongoing climate change. The overwhelming majority of the components of Antarctic marine trophic chain are stenotherm organisms, highly adapted to the extreme, but extremely stable, freezing temperatures of the Antarctic ocean, which have not changed significantly during the past fifteen million years. Notothenioid fishes are the most abundant representatives of ichthyofauna at these latitudes, being ubiquitously found in coastal areas across the entire continent. While different Antarctic fish species have been previously subjected to studies aimed at defining their range of thermal tolerance, or at studying the response to acute thermal stress, just a handful of authors have investigated the effects of the exposure to a moderate increase of temperature, falling within the expected forecasts for the next few decades in some areas of the Antarctica. Here, the emerald rockcod Trematomus bernacchii was used as a model species to investigate the effects of a 20-day long exposure to a +1.5 °C increase in the brain, gills and skeletal muscle, using a RNA-sequencing approach. In parallel, the experimental design also allowed for assessing the impact of stabling (including acclimation, the handling of fishes and their confinement in tanks during the experimental phase) on gene expression profiling. The results of this study clearly identified the brain as the most susceptible tissue to heat stress, with evidence of a time-dependent response dominated by an alteration of immune response, protein synthesis and folding, and energy metabolism-related genes. While the gills displayed smaller but still significant alterations, the skeletal muscle was completely unaffected by the experimental conditions. The stabling conditions also had an important impact on gene expression profiles in the brain, suggesting the presence of significant alterations of the fish nervous system, possibly due to the confinement to tanks with limited water volume and of the restricted possibility of movement. Besides providing novel insights in the molecular mechanisms underlying thermal stress in notothenioids, these findings suggest that more attention should be dedicated to an improved design of the experiments carried out on Antarctic organism, due to their extreme susceptibility to the slightest environmental alterations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors on Fish Physiology)
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