Stress Response to Entrainment Flow Speed near Pump Inlet Fish Screens in Two Model Teleost Species, Anguilla anguilla and Oncorhynchus mykiss

Stress Response to Entrainment Flow Speed near Pump Inlet Fish Screens in Two Model Teleost Species, Anguilla anguilla and Oncorhynchus mykiss

Miccoli, Andrea (Universita degli Studi della Tuscia Viterbo)
De Luca, Antonio (Universita degli Studi della Tuscia Viterbo)
Bricker, J.D. (TU Delft Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk; University of Michigan)
Vriese, Frederik Tijmen (ATKB)
Moll, J.R. (TU Delft Hydraulic Structures and Flood Risk)
Scapigliati, Giuseppe (Universita degli Studi della Tuscia Viterbo)

2023

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.

acute stress
Anguilla anguilla
anthropogenic impacts
cortisol
fish physiology
HPI axis
hydropower
Oncorhynchus mykiss

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ea2ce920-ce79-495f-9215-fd7a9a21752b

https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8030139

2410-3888

Fishes, 8 (3)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2023 Andrea Miccoli, Antonio De Luca, J.D. Bricker, Frederik Tijmen Vriese, J.R. Moll, Giuseppe Scapigliati