High dietary energy level stimulates growth hormone receptor and feed utilization in large Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) under hypoxic conditions

This study examines how appetite and growth regulation of Atlantic salmon are affected by low dissolved oxygen (LO) and dietary digestible energy levels (DE: high [HE] vs. low [LE]). Long‐term exposure to LO resulted in a reduced feed intake, growth, digestible protein and fat retention efficiencies and increased feed conversation ratio and plasma ghrelin concentrations (p < .05) compared to high dissolved oxygen (HO). Pair‐feeding of rations based on the feed intake of the LO groups, but fed at HO, resulted in a 50% growth improvement in HE diet groups. This suggests that the poor growth under LO was not entirely caused by the reduced feed intake. Salmon adapted to LO by increased haemoglobin concentrations, while osmoregulation was affected by increased plasma chloride concentrations (p < .05). Plasma ghrelin concentration was unaffected by DE (p > .05). Growth regulation was affected by the HE diet, with increased liver and muscle growth hormone receptor ghr1 mRNA (p < .05), regardless of oxygen level. The growth depression due to low oxygen appears to be related to higher metabolic costs, while higher DE upregulates the GH‐IGF system at the ghr1 level and found to be beneficial for growth, feed intake, oxyregulation and osmoregulation under hypoxia.     

Tracking escaped Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) aggregated around Norwegian farms: Considerations for management strategies

To examine site fidelity and potential for ecosystem impacts, 20 escapee cod (Gadus morhua L.) from fjord‐based cod farms were tagged with acoustic transmitters, released in the vicinity of the same farm, and their subsequent behaviour and survival monitored using a fixed array of acoustic receivers. Most individuals demonstrated high fidelity to their farm where tagged, and this increased during the polar night. Only five individuals (25%) were occasionally detected at another farm (4 km distance), and only three cod (15%) migrated out of the fjord during the 6‐month study period. Vertical movements were consistently greater in the hours around noon than at night, a behaviour inconsistent with that observed for wild fish. A high mortality rate (40%) was observed during the first 4 months post‐release, and actual mortality may have been even higher, limiting the potential for negative ecosystem effects from cod escapees. Findings from this study are used to discuss the development of recapture strategies for minimising potential impacts from cod escapees to ensure sustainable farming activity.     

terraGIS – a web GIS for delivery of digital soil maps in cotton‐growing areas of Australia

Effective management of soil requires the spatial distribution of its various physical, chemical and hydrological properties. This is because properties, for example clay content, determine the ability of soil to hold cations and retain water. However, data acquisition is labour intensive and time‐consuming. To add value to the limited soil data, remote sensing (e.g. airborne gamma‐ray spectrometry) and proximal sensing, such as electromagnetic (EM) induction, are being used as ancillary data. Here, we provide examples of developing Digital Soil Maps (DSM) of soil physical, chemical and hydrological properties, for seven cotton‐growing areas of southeastern Australia, by coupling soil data with remote and proximal sensed ancillary data. A greater challenge is how to get these DSM to a stakeholder in a way that is useful for practical soil use and management. This study describes how we facilitate access to the DSMs, using a simple‐to‐use web GIS platform, called terraGIS. The platform is underpinned by Google Maps API, which is an open‐source development environment for building spatially enabled Internet applications. In conclusion, we consider that terraGIS and the supporting information, available on the sister web page ( http://www.terragis.bees.unsw.edu.au/ ), allow easy access to explanation of DSM of soil properties, which are relevant to cotton growers, farm managers, consultants, extension staff, researchers, state and federal government agency personnel and policy analysts. Future work should be aimed at developing error budget maps to identify where additional soil and/or ancillary data is required to improve the accuracy of the DSMs.     

Temperature modulates liver lipid accumulation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fed low dietary levels of long‐chain n‐3 fatty acids

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed five graded levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n‐3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3), from 1.4 to 5.2% of total fatty acids (FA, 5–17 mg kg^?1 feed), and grew from ~160 g to ~3000 g, with the period from 1450 g onwards conducted both at 6 °C and at 12 °C. All fish appeared healthy, and there were no diet‐related differences in haematological or plasma parameters, as well as intestinal histological or gut microbiota analysis. Fish reared at 6 °C had higher accumulation of storage lipids in the liver compared to fish reared at 12 °C. Liver lipids also increased with decreasing dietary EPA + DHA at 6 °C, while there was no such relationship at 12 °C. Gene expression of SREBP1 and 2, LXR, FAS and CPT1 could not explain the differences in liver lipid accumulation. In liver polar lipids, DHA was found to be reduced when dietary EPA + DHA was <2.7% of FAs, while the level of EPA in the membranes was not affected. In conclusion, reducing dietary EPA + DHA from 5.2 to 1.4% of total FAs had a minor impact on fish health. Temperature was the factor that most affected the liver lipid accumulation, but there was also an interaction with dietary components.     

Otolith chemistry indicates walleye movement and entrainment in a large serial reservoir system

Understanding fish movement in impounded river systems is important for fisheries management. Otolith chemistry was used to examine walleye Sander vitreus (Mitchill) intra‐ and inter‐reservoir movement in four Missouri River impoundments. Age‐0 individuals were reclassified with 75%–93% accuracy to known natal sites, allowing for reliable evaluation of movement patterns of age‐1 and older fish. Nearly half of walleye occupied the same location annually (i.e. site residency) between 2009 and 2010. In 2011, during the largest flood on record since 1898, downstream movement (49% of age‐1 and older fish) exceeded upstream movement (7%) and site residency (33%) across the study area. After the flood, most walleye moved downstream within reservoirs (45%) or were site residents (37%). Entrainment occurred most frequently during the flood year and was proportionally greatest in downstream reservoirs. Otolith chemistry is useful for understanding walleye movement and entrainment and is a tool for fisheries management with applications such as informing reservoir water releases, harvest regulations and habitat protection and rehabilitation within and outside the Missouri River reservoir system.     

Effect of dietary phosphorus levels on growth and body composition of crucian carp,Carassius auratus under indoor and outdoor experiments

Indoor and outdoor experiments were carried out simultaneously to evaluate the effects of dietary phosphorus levels on growth performance and body composition of crucian carp. Monocalcium was used to formulate extruded feed containing available phosphorus (AP) of 1.5 (D1), 4.7 (D2), 6.3 (D3) and 9.0 (D4) g kg^?1. Twelve 500‐L recirculating tanks were assigned to four triplicate groups with each tank stocked with 15 juveniles (39.88 ± 0.14 g) for indoor experiment. Twelve polyethylene enclosures were assigned to four groups with each one stocked with 120 juveniles (44.08 ± 1.36 g). After 8 weeks of feeding, survival ranged from 96% to 100%. Weight gain, special growth rate, protein efficiency ratio and feed conversion rate did not show significant differences among dietary treatments in both experiments. Fish cultured in the enclosures grew better, although D1 and D2 treatments did not reach significant level. Crude protein and phosphorus content of the fish were not significantly affected by dietary phosphorus level. Moisture, crude lipid, crude ash and vertebrae phosphorus were significantly affected by different phosphorus levels. Based on vertebrae phosphorus, crucian carp cultured in the tanks and in the enclosures showed phosphorus deficiency under 4.7 g kg^?1 and 6.3 g kg^?1 AP, respectively.     

Effects of dietary protein and lipid levels with different protein‐to‐energy ratios on growth performance,feed utilization and body composition of juvenile red‐spotted grouper,Epinephelus akaara

An 8‐week feeding trial was conducted to assess dietary protein and lipid levels on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of juvenile red‐spotted grouper (7.85 ± 0.03 g fish^?1). Nine semi‐purified diets were formulated containing varying protein levels (440–520 g kg^?1, dry matter) and lipid levels (60–120 g kg^?1, dry matter). The weight gain of juvenile Epinephelus akaara was affected by dietary protein (p = .005) and its interaction with dietary lipid (p = .020). Viscerosomatic index, intraperitoneal fat ratio and whole‐body lipid level increased with increasing dietary lipid level (p < .001). Nitrogen retention was not affected by dietary protein and lipid, while lipid retention decreased with increasing dietary lipid level (p < .001). The plasma blood urea nitrogen increased with increasing dietary protein level (p = .003). This study showed that diet with 520 g kg^?1 protein and 60 g kg^?1 lipid with 30.58 mg kJ^?1 P:E provided a maximal growth for this species. Moreover, an increase in dietary lipid levels (from 60 to 90 g kg^?1) could reduce the protein requirement (from 520 to 480 g kg^?1) without affecting the growth performance, while higher fat deposition was observed in fish fed high‐lipid diets.     

The influence of graphene reinforced electrospun nano-interlayers on quasi-static indentation behavior of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites

The aim of this research is to investigate the development and evaluation of hybrid multi-scale aramid/epoxy composites interleaved with electrospun graphene nanoplatelets/nylon 66 (GNPs/PA66) mats. The reinforced nanofiber mats were explored for their best mechanical properties and PA66 nanofibers with 1 wt% GNPs were selected for composite production. Quasi-static indentation tests were performed on both pristine and nanofiber-modified composites. The experimental results revealed that the introduction of reinforced interleaves within the interlaminar interfaces of composites promotes fracture toughness compared to pristine interleaves. It is shown that there is a particular interleaf thickness for optimum toughening effect of nanofibers. The optimum thicknesses for pristine and reinforced interleaves are 35 and 17.5 μm, respectively.     

Effect of dietary GroBiotic®‐A supplementation as a prebiotic on the intestinal microflora,growth performance,haemato‐serological parameters,survival rate and body composition in juvenile beluga (Huso huso Linnaeus, 1754)

The objectives of the present study were to investigate of GroBiotic^®‐A (GBA) on growth, autochthonous intestinal microbiota and haemato‐serological parameters of beluga juvenile. A total of 180 fish (40.82 ± 5.81 g) were fed diets containing graded levels of GBA (0, 5, 10 and 20 g kg^?1 diet) for 8 weeks. No significantly differences in body composition, total viable aerobic bacteria, mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin, mean cell haemoglobin concentration, neutrophils, eosinophils, monocytes, albumin, glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase were detected between treatment groups. The fish fed on 10 and 20 g kg^?1 GBA significantly showed higher lactic acid bacteria, final weight, body weight increases, weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio compared with the control and 5 g kg^?1 groups. The group fed 20 g kg^?1 GBA showed a highly significant difference in condition factor, survival rate, final length, total red and white blood cells, lymphocytes, haematocrit, haemoglobin, total protein, total immunoglobulin and lysozyme activity. The specific growth rate of the treatment groups was significantly elevated compared with the control groups. These results indicated that GBA at level 20 g kg^?1 improved growth, welfare and survival of beluga juvenile.     

Variation in prey selection and foraging success associated with early‐life ontogeny and habitat use of American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)

Many fishes are planktivorous during early life and switch to piscivory or consume larger food items as ontogeny progresses. In contrast, paddlefish start as particulate feeders and later become filter feeders. Few studies have identified food items essential for paddlefish growth, survival and recruitment surrounding this ontogenetic diet shift. The objectives of this study were to investigate (i) prey types consumed by paddlefish, (ii) variability in prey selection surrounding an ontogenetic diet shift and (iii) whether habitat affected paddlefish prey selection or foraging success. We analysed gut contents of 189 wild age‐0 paddlefish from the middle Mississippi River (MMR) and also conducted a laboratory experiment to address these objectives. We found that paddlefish primarily foraged on benthic macroinvertebrates in the MMR, which differed from previous studies in lentic systems, suggesting young paddlefish prey selection may be labile depending on habitat (i.e., lotic versus lentic). Dominant prey of wild‐caught and experimental age‐0 paddlefish were caddisfly larvae (Trichoptera), followed by hemipterans and amphipods. We found little evidence that habitat attributes affected foraging success, but the most common prey items consumed were associated with wing dike habitat and the upstream and downstream tips of alluvial islands. Our experimental study revealed that if provided a mixture of organisms, age‐0 paddlefish will primarily consume macroinvertebrates while age‐1 paddlefish will mainly filter zooplankton. Overall results suggest young paddlefish prey selection can be highly variable, but also heavily reliant on a narrow group of prey resources.