USGS Science⌕ Search

SEARCH · USGS Science

Results for “Journal of Animal Research and Nutrition”

Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2018

Dietary bioprocessed soybean meal does not affect the growth of exercised juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Context : This 88-day experiment evaluated the rearing performance of juvenile rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) fed one of three isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets and reared at velocities of either 2.3 or 18.7 cm s -1 . Objective : Evaluate the effects of diet and exercise during rainbow trout rearing. Design : Fishmeal was the primary protein source for one diet, with bioprocessed soybean meal (BSM) replacing either 60 or 85% of the fishmeal in the other two diets. Setting : This study was performed at Cleghorn Springs State Fish Hatchery in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. Results : At the end of the experiment there were no significant differences among the dietary treatments in gain, percent gain, specific growth rate (SGR), or percent mortality. However, fish fed the fishmeal-based diet ate significantly more, experienced a significantly higher feed conversion ratio (FCR), and had a significantly higher hepatosomatic index than the fish fed the 85% BSM diet. Intestinal histology was not affected by the inclusion of BSM. Fish reared at 2.3 cm/s -1 had significantly lower FCRs, gain, percent gain, and SGR than the fish reared at 18.7 cm/ s -1 . There was a significant interaction in food consumed between diet and velocity, but no other significant interactions between the dietary and exercise treatments were observed. Conclusion : Based on these results, BSM can replace at least 85% of the fishmeal in juvenile rainbow trout, even if the fish are exercised.

South Dakota↗
USGS2012

Biomedical health assessments of the Florida manatee in Crystal River - providing opportunities for training during the capture, handling, and processing of this endangered aquatic mammal

Federal and state researchers have been involved in manatee (Trichechus manatus) biomedical health assessment programs for a couple of decades. These benchmark studies have provided a foundation for the development of consistent capture, handling, and processing techniques and protocols. Biologists have implemented training and encouraged multi-agency participation whenever possible to ensure reliable data acquisition, recording, sample collection, publication integrity, and meeting rigorous archival standards. Under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife research permit granted to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Sirenia Project, federal biologists and collaborators are allowed to conduct research studies on wild and captive manatees detailing various aspects of their biology. Therefore, researchers with the project have been collaborating on numerous studies over the last several years. One extensive study, initiated in 2006 has focused on health and fitness of the winter manatee population located in Crystal River, Florida. During those health assessments, capture, handling, and work-up training has been afforded to many of the participants. That study has successfully captured and handled 123 manatees. The data gathered have provided baseline information on manatee health, reproductive status, and nutritional condition. This research initiative addresses concerns and priorities outlined in the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan. The assessment teams strive to continue this collaborative effort to help advance our understanding of health-related issues confronting manatees throughout their range and interlacing these findings with surrogate species concepts.

Florida↗
USGS1985

The representative research animal: Why rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri Rich.)?

In laboratory research, the rainbow trout has become a counterpart to the white rat, because that fish is an adaptable species available in much of the developed world and stocks from egg through adult are available throughout the year. Moreover, many strains are recognized, and their propagation and laboratory maintenance are not particularly demanding. Also, knowledge of rainbow trout nutrition, husbandry, diseases, immune responses, toxicology, and carcinogenesis exceeds that of any other salmonid or coldwater teleost. The rainbow trout is the logical surrogate species in many studies of other salmonids.

Journal of Applied Ichthyology↗
USGS2022

Evaluating risks associated with capture and handling of mule deer for individual-based, long-term research

Capture and handling techniques for individual-based, long-term research that tracks the life history of animals by recapturing the same individuals for several years has vastly improved study inferences and our understanding of animal ecology. Yet there are corresponding risks to study animals associated with physical trauma or capture myopathy that can occur during or following capture events. Rarely has empirical evidence existed to guide decisions associated with understanding the magnitude of capture-related risks, how to reduce these risks when possible, and implications for mortality censoring and survival estimates. We used data collected from 2,399 capture events of mule deer ( Odocoileus hemionus ) via helicopter net-gunning to compare daily survival probabilities within a 10-week period centered on a capture event and evaluated how animal age, nutritional condition (body fat), and various handling methods influenced survival before, during, and following a capture event. Direct mortality resulting from capture efforts was 1.59%. Mean daily survival was 0.9993 ± 0.0001 (SE) during the 5-week pre-capture window, was depressed the day of capture at 0.9841 ± 0.0004, and rebounded to 0.9990 ± 0.0008 during the 5-week post-capture window. Neither capture nor handling had a detectable effect on post-capture survival, including handling time ( x̄ = 13.30 ± 1.87 min), capture time of year (i.e., Dec or Mar), tooth extraction, and the number of times an animal had been recaptured (2–17 times). Although mortality rate was slightly elevated during capture (resulting from physical trauma associated with capture), age and nutritional condition did not influence the probability of mortality during a capture event. Following a capture event, nutritional condition influenced survival; however, that relationship was consistent with expected effects of nutritional condition on winter survival and independent of capture and handling. Overall survival rates 5 weeks before capture and 5 weeks after capture were not different. A specified window of time with depressed survival following capture and handling was not evident, which contradicts the implementation of a predetermined window often used by researchers and managers for censoring mortalities that occur after capture. Previous notions that censorship of all mortality data in the 2 weeks following capture is unwarranted and risks removal of meaningful data. With previous evidence guiding our protocols for capture (e.g., reduced chase time) and handling (e.g., temperature mitigation), low direct mortality and almost undetectable indirect mortality post capture reinforces the efficacy of helicopter net-gunning for capture and recapture of mule deer in long-term, individual-based studies.

Wyoming↗
USGS2014

Nutritional stress affects corticosterone deposition in feathers of Caspian tern chicks

Stressful environmental conditions affect the adrenocortical function of developing animals, which can have consequences for their fitness. Discovery of the avian stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) in feathers has the potential to broaden the application of endocrine research in ecological and evolutionary studies of wild birds by providing a long-term measure of CORT secretion. Mechanisms of CORT deposition in feathers are not well known and few studies have related feather CORT to circulating plasma CORT during feather growth. Our objective was to experimentally test the validity of using feather CORT as a measure of CORT secretion in developing birds experiencing nutritional stress. Caspian tern Hydroprogne caspia chicks were fed ad libitum or restricted (35% less than ad libitum) diets for four weeks. We measured CORT in feathers from these chicks to examine the relationship between feather CORT concentrations and nutritional limitation, circulating plasma CORT, and feather development. We found that feather CORT was higher in controls fed ad libitum than in restricted individuals, despite higher levels of plasma CORT in restricted chicks compared to controls. Feather mass and growth rates were strongly and positively related to feather CORT concentrations in both treatments. This is the first experimental study to show that feather CORT concentrations can be lower in response to nutritional stress, even when plasma CORT concentrations are elevated. Our results indicate that CORT deposition in feathers may be confounded when feather mass and growth rates are compromised by nutritional stress. We conclude that feather CORT can be used for assessing nutritional stress in growing birds, but the direction of response depends on how strongly stress affects feather development.

Journal of Avian Biology↗
USGS2010

Persistent organic pollutants in the blood of free-ranging sea otters (Enhydra lutris ssp.) in Alaska and California

As part of tagging and ecologic research efforts in 1997 and 1998, apparently healthy sea otters of four age-sex classes in six locations in Alaska and three in California were sampled for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other chemicals of ecologic or environmental concern (COECs). Published techniques for the detection of POPs (specifically Σpolychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], ΣDDTs, Σhexachlorocyclohexanes [HCHs], Σpolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs], Σchlordanes [CHLs], hexachlorobenzene [HCB], dieldrin, and mirex) in the tissue of dead otters were modified for use with serum from live sea otters. Toxic equivalencies (TEQs) were calculated for POPs with proven bioactivity. Strong location effects were seen for most POPs and COECs; sea otters in California generally showed higher mean concentrations than those in Alaska. Differences in contaminant concentrations were detected among age and sex classes, with high levels frequently observed in subadults. Very high levels of ΣDDT were detected in male sea otters in Elkhorn Slough, California, where strong freshwater outflow from agricultural areas occurs seasonally. All contaminants except mirex differed among Alaskan locations; only ΣDDT, HCB, and chlorpyrifos differed within California. High levels of ΣPCB (particularly larger, more persistent congeners) were detected at two locations in Alaska where associations between elevated PCBs and military activity have been established, while higher PCB levels were found at all three locations in California where no point source of PCBs has been identified. Although POP and COEC concentrations in blood may be less likely to reflect total body burden, concentrations in blood of healthy animals may be more biologically relevant and less influenced by state of nutrition or perimortem factors than other tissues routinely sampled.

Alaska, California↗
USGS2017

In memoriam - William Toshio (Tosh) Yasutake, 1922-2016

William Toshio (Tosh) Yasutake, 1922-2016 passed away peacefully at home on December 12, 2016, at the age of 94. He is survived by Fumi, his wife of 66 years, as well as four children and six grandchildren. With his death, the fish health community has lost an outstanding scientist as well as a kind, unassuming, and wonderful human being. Tosh was born on June 10, 1922, in Seattle, Washington, to Jack and Hide Yasutake. He was in his first year of studies at the University of Washington when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Imperial Japan on December 7, 1941. Following the attack, Tosh and his family (father, mother, sister, and two brothers) were among the 110,000–120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced from their homes on the Pacific coast and incarcerated in internment camps in the interior. In June 1942, Tosh enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving as an unarmed combat medic in the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare. Wounded in October 1944 during the Vosges Mountains campaign near Bruyères, France, Tosh was evacuated and missed the ensuing battle to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” at which his replacement was killed. Tosh returned to action in Italy in February 1945 and served until the end of the war in Europe, earning both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for bravery. In October 2010, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and in 2012 the surviving members were made chevaliers of the French Légion d’Honneur for actions contributing to the liberation of France in World War II. After the war, Tosh returned to the University of Washington on the GI Bill and received a B.S. degree in zoology in 1951. In 1953 he began his research career at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Western Fish Nutrition Laboratory at Cook, Washington, where he conducted pioneering research on nutritional fish diseases with John Halver. Tosh was one of the first to recognize hepatomas in hatchery-reared Rainbow Trout and helped to trace the disease to an aflatoxin produced by the mold Aspergillus flavis , which grew during the storage of ingredients for fish diets. In 1960, he transferred to the Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) in Seattle (then called the Western Fish Disease Laboratory) to start a fish pathology diagnostic laboratory. There he described the histopathology of diseases of economically important fishes, identified etiologic agents, and worked with hatchery biologists to improve the health, quality, and survival of salmonids released from federal and state hatcheries. Tosh was instrumental in recognizing that the viruses of Oregon sockeye disease and Chinook Salmon virus disease were one entity and in giving the disease its present name: infectious hematopoietic necrosis. In recognition of his pioneering research, Tosh was awarded a doctorate in fish pathology by the University of Tokyo in 1980, the first American to have been so honored. In 1983, he published his classic textbook The Microscopic Anatomy of Salmonids: An Atlas , which quickly became a standard reference work in fish pathology and is still in wide use today. For his outstanding career achievements, in 1987 Tosh received the S. F. Snieszko Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Fisheries Society’s Fish Health Section (AFS–FHS). Tosh retired in 1988 but continued his research at the WFRC as a senior scientist emeritus, providing technical assistance to federal and state agencies and to the aquaculture industry worldwide. His culminating project was to digitize his lifetime collection of photomicrographs and prepare an atlas, “Histopathology of Selected Parasitic Salmonid Diseases: A Color Atlas,” that is now posted on the Web sites of the WFRC and the AFS–FHS. Although his presence will be sorely missed, his research contributions have become part of the foundation of today’s knowledge of fisheries biology and have assured him a place in history.

Journal of Aquatic Animal Health↗
USGS2026

Effects of a low-lipid diet on the gut microbiome and head kidney transcriptome of juvenile Chinook Salmon

Objective Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. reared in production hatcheries are typically fed high-lipid, energy-dense diets to achieve large size and high body condition prior to release. In contrast, juveniles in natural environments tend to consume low-lipid, high-protein diets, and fish reared for research or conservation purposes are sometimes fed diets that are formulated to mimic natural diets and promote wild-like phenotypes. Understanding how these alternative diets affect fish health beyond growth and body condition could ultimately contribute to improving hatchery fish fitness. Methods In this work, we evaluated changes in the fecal microbiome and gene expression of juvenile Chinook Salmon O. tshawytscha on a standard high-lipid hatchery diet versus a low-lipid diet formulated to mimic the nutrition profile of natural-origin fish. To evaluate the time scale at which diet alters the fecal microbiome, we collected longitudinal samples over a 12-week period and switched the diets of a subset of fish twice during the experiment. We used 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing to characterize fecal microbiome differences between fish on the two diets as well as hatchery-reared fish at a production hatchery, hatchery fish that had been captured after release into a stream, and natural-origin, stream-reared fish of similar ages. Additionally, we conducted RNA sequencing on head kidney samples from laboratory-reared fish to evaluate changes in gene expression in this important immune organ. Results We found that the low-lipid diet and the hatchery diet resulted in microbiomes that differed from the microbiome of natural-origin fish and from each other and that diet-driven changes to the microbiome could occur in under 14 d. The low-lipid diet did not result in a microbiome that resembled the microbiome of naturally produced fish. Instead, the low-lipid diet resulted in a microbiome community that was distinct from those of fish reared on the hatchery diet and fish sampled from the wild. The RNA sequencing results indicated differential enrichment of pathways related to immunity, metabolism, and hormone synthesis between fish that were fed the two experimental diets. Conclusions The results suggest that additional environmental factors influence the microbiome more strongly than diet formulation or that the low-lipid diet has a smaller effect on the microbiome than a natural, ­invertebrate-based diet. Given that the gut microbiome and systemic immune function contribute significantly to disease resistance, our findings highlight the importance of understanding how diets fed to fish in captivity may affect fish health beyond growth and body condition metrics.

Journal of Aquatic Animal Health↗