Occult haemoglobin in fish skin mucus as an indicator of early stress

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Abstract
Early induced stress may result in the release of free haemoglobin into the skin mucus of teleostean fishes. If this were the case, it could be indicated quickly and simply by the colour change of a commercially available haemoglobin test strip. Preliminary tests on Mugil cephalus (grey mullet) encouraged more extensive investigations with Chanos chanos (milkfish), Caranx ignobilis (papio), Albula vulpes (bonefish), and Chaetodon miliaris (butterfly fish). The results indicated that unstressed individuals of these species have no detectable haemoglobin in their skin mucus but, within 2–4 min, the pigment will appear in occult amounts if stress is applied. Additional studies confirmed that it was haemoglobin and no other possible contaminants in the mucus which caused the colour change of the test strip.The technique is simple and quick, and is itself harmless to the fish. It is of immediate potential value to fish culturists for the detection of early stress conditions. Efforts can then be made to lessen or remove the stress conditions before debility and possibly overt disease take over. A further application of the technique may be the identification of individuals genetically better able to resist disease.

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