Introduction

INTRODUCTION

  • The regular monitoring of fish blood is a very useful diagnostic tool in establishing the health status of fish stocks maintained in a farm or a hatchery. This chapter deals with the different techniques used in collecting and examining blood samples.

Blood

  • Tissue composed of circulatory cells in a liquid medium called plasma, or in the case of some invertebrates, haemolymph. The role of blood is to carry oxygen, food-materials and excretory products through the body to different organs and tissues. It usually contains respiratory pigments.

Plasma

  • Plasma is approximately 90% water and 10% dissolved organic and inorganic compounds. The organic materials include proteins such as globulins (alpha, beta, gamma and immunoglobulin), albumins, clotting factors and antibodies. Serum is a straw-coloured liquid which remains after blood has clotted.

Definitions

  • Protein: Complex, naturally-occurring, polymers comprised of amino acids, joined by peptide linkages.
  • Albumin: Group of small proteins, forming a large part of the plasma protein content. They are responsible for the transport of free fatty acids.
  • Clotting factors: Proteins in the blood which are involved in the complex process of converting soluble fibrinogen into fibrin.
  • Serum: The fibrinogen-free fluid fraction of blood or haemolymph. In vertebrates, the blood is first allowed to clot (i.e., fibrinogen is converted to insoluble fibrin) and then centrifuged to remove blood cells and fibrin. 

Blood cells of fishes are categorized into two main groups.

 Types of fish blood cells

Source: myoptumhealth.com
Last modified: Thursday, 15 December 2011, 2:31 PM