Comparison of select hematology and serum chemistry analtyes between wild-caught and aquarium-housed lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens).
Hematology and serum chemistry analytes were compared between wild-caught and aquarium-housed lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) to potentially improve understanding of medical issues in lake sturgeon. Blood samples were taken from 30 lake sturgeon exhibited in 11 institutions in the United States and from 23 experimentally stocked lake sturgeon caught in gill nets in the lower Genesee River in Rochester, New York, USA. For hematology, only segmented neutrophil count was significantly different, with wild-caught fish having a higher number of circulating neutrophils. For clinical chemistry analytes, chloride, uric acid, calcium, phosphate, glucose, aspartate aminotransferase, triglycerides, and creatine kinase were significantly different between the two cohorts. These differences are likely not clinically significant and are attributable to handling stress, variability in environmental parameters, or differences in nutritional status. This is the first report of hematology and serum chemistry values in aquarium-housed lake sturgeon and provides useful reference intervals for clinicians.
Seneca Park Zoo, 2222 St. Paul Street, Rochester, NY 14621, USA. louis_divincenti@urmc.rochester.edu
Louis
L
DiVincenti
Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine, 930 Campus Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Heather
H
Priest
Seneca Park Zoo, 2222 St. Paul Street, Rochester, NY 14621, USA.
Kyle J
KJ
Walker
Seneca Park Zoo, 2222 St. Paul Street, Rochester, NY 14621, USA.
Jeffrey D
JD
Wyatt
United States Geological Survey, Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science, 3075 Gracie Road, Cortland, NY 13045, USA.
Dawn
D
Dittman
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001772:Blood Cell Count / Q000662:veterinary; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis / Q000662:veterinary*; D005399:Fishes / Q000097:blood*; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000662:veterinary*; D009518:New York; D012016:Reference Values; D045483:Rivers