Seasonal Hematological Changes in Winter Flounder, Pseudopleuronectes americanus

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Abstract
The hematology of adult winter flounder was investigated weekly from December 1972 through January 1974. The following parameters revealed statistically demonstrable variation between seasons: hemoglobin (Hb), blood oxygen capacity (CBO2), hematocrit (Hct), red blood cell number (RBC), immature red blood cell number, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, leukocytes, lymphocytes, thrombocytes, neutrophils, condition factor, and apparent health. The blood constituents concerned with metabolic processes such as oxygen transport, e.g., Hb, Hct, CBO2, and RBC, were lowest during late winter and early spring when winter flounder fast and undergo reproduction activity. At this time the constituents of the blood associated with stress response and infections, i.e., the total white blood cells, were at their yearly peak. The leukocyte count declined during the summer and remained low throughout the rest of the year. Conversely, the Hct, HB, CBO2, and RBC increased during the summer and remained high for the rest of the year. The variation in blood constituents may be in response to the stresses of fasting and spawning during the winter and the alleviation of stressing environmental conditions in the spring.

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