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NON-INFECTIOUS DISORDERS OF WARMWATER FISHES
Citation:
Hawkins, W. E., J W. Fournie, AND N. Chansue. NON-INFECTIOUS DISORDERS OF WARMWATER FISHES. 2002, P.T.K. Woo, D.W. Bruno, S.L.H. Lim (ed.), Diseases of Finfish in Cage Culture. CAB International, Wallingford, Uk, , 283-304.
Description:
Compared with infectious diseases and disorders, few non-infectious diseases and disorders in cultured fish have severe biologic or economic impact. Culture practices, however, often establish environments that promote infectious disease by weakening the immune response or by promoting conditions that favor infectious agents (Barton, 1997). Generally non-infectious diseases and disorders result from adverse physical, chemical and biological factors and from poor nutrition (Southgate, 1993). Adverse factors can be changes in temperature, pH, and dissolved gases, suspended solids, endogenous toxins, anthropogenic toxicants, solar radiation and physical damage such as from predation. Neoplastic diseases can be initiated by infectious agents (viruses), exposure to carcinogenic chemicals or by hereditary genetic disturbances. In this chapter, nutritional disorders are discussed from the standpoint of dietary imblances in protein, lipid, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Also included are starvation, imbalances in specific dietary constituents, and dietary toxicity. These categories are broad with a great deal of knowledge available for some fish species and certain diseases and disorders, and little or none for others. Most of the available information for warmwater cultured species is anecdotal except that for the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). In this chapter, we attempt to assemble the available information on non-infectious diseases and disorders in warmwater fish with an emphasis on cultured species. As aquaculture expands, more warmwater marine and freshwater species will be developed for culture. Therefore, much of this information is prospective rather than retrospective with information drawn particularly from warmwater species, but also from the more extensively studied coldwater cultured species such as the salmon and trout. We make no attempt to define the line between disease and disorder, the distinction of which is often blurred.