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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Warmwater Aquaculture Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #215993
Title: Elucidating the Effects of Cortisol and Stress on Economically Important Traits in Channel Catfish

Author
item Small, Brian
item Davis Jr, Kenneth
item Peterson, Brian

Submitted to: North American Journal of Aquaculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2007
Publication Date: 3/27/2008
Citation: Small, B.C., Davis Jr, K.B., Peterson, B.C. 2008. Elucidating the Effects of Cortisol and Stress on Economically Important Traits in Channel Catfish. North American Journal of Aquaculture 70:223-235.

Interpretive Summary: Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are an important aquaculture species in the United States and have received considerable research attention in efforts to improve production. Three traits of considerable importance to the Farm-Raised Catfish industry are disease resistance, growth, and reproduction. While many factors affect these three traits, how a fish responds to stress can have a substantial impact on each one. Understanding the relationships between the stress response and components of that response, such as cortisol, is important to the development of better management and breeding practices to maximize production. Although much of the data for fish regarding the physiological consequences of stress and elevated plasma cortisol has been collected from studies with salmonids, recent advances have been made toward understanding these relationships in channel catfish. The present review synthesizes the research conducted over the past several years regarding the effects of stress and/or cortisol on disease susceptibility, growth and metabolism, and reproduction of channel catfish in the context of what has been published for other species.

Technical Abstract: Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are an important aquaculture species in the United States and have received considerable research attention in efforts to improve production. Three traits of considerable importance to the Farm-Raised Catfish industry are disease resistance, growth, and reproduction. While many factors affect these three traits, how a fish responds to stress can have a substantial impact on each one. Understanding the relationships between the stress response and components of that response, such as cortisol, is important to the development of better management and breeding practices to maximize production. Although much of the data for fish regarding the physiological consequences of stress and elevated plasma cortisol has been collected from studies with salmonids, recent advances have been made toward understanding these relationships in channel catfish. The present review synthesizes the research conducted over the past several years regarding the effects of stress and/or cortisol on disease susceptibility, growth and metabolism, and reproduction of channel catfish in the context of what has been published for other species.