Individual variability of blood parameters in striped bass Morone saxatilis: possible differences related to weight and length

Blood parameters in fish provide a rich source of information about metabolites, blood cells and biochemical markers that reflect individual differences in health, disease, diet and habitat. Haematological and biochemical parameters were investigated in 80 cultured striped bass Morone saxatilis, in order to evaluate a possible correlation between biometric indices (weight and total length) and blood parameters in this species of fish. For this purpose, blood samples were collected from each fish to evaluate the haematological profile (white blood cells, WBC; red blood cell, RBC; haemoglobin concentration, Hb; haematocrit, Hct; mean corpuscular volume, MCV; mean corpuscular haemoglobin, MCH; mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, MCHC; thrombocytes, TC), and some biochemical parameters (glucose, GLU; serum total protein, TP; total cholesterol, CHOL and triglycerides, TRIG). The obtained results showed a statistically significant positive relationship between the weight of fish and RBC and TRIG. All the other studied parameters showed no correlation with the biometric indices. This study evaluates the possible correlation between biometric indices (weight and total length) and blood parameters, representing a valid contribution to the knowledge of the blood parameters of Striped bass and could be used as reference for a comparison in further studies to evaluate the health status of this species of fish in different cultured system, because assessment of these parameters may be used as quick tool for health status, stress and poor aquaculture management.