Assignment

Topic.
The defensive mechanism in fish

To.

Mam Saima Noreen

By.

M Shoaib Rana, Maryam Zahra. Azaan Siddiqui

Department.

Fisheries and aquaculture

Semester.

7th

Muhammad Nawaz sharif University of Agriculture Multan

Fish stress
Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological
strain. Stress is your body's response to anything that requires attention or action. Everyone experiences
stress to some degree

Types of Stress
 Short time stress
Short-time stress occurs due to test netting and transfer of fish in another tank,
When fish feel danger, it releases hormone adrenalin for locomotory muscles for quick
escaping

 Long time stress

Long-term changes, such as a poor or unsuitable environment, are handled with the same initial
response, at first, the fish’s body tends to overreact but, with time, it will adapt to reach the best possible balance –
physiologically and behaviorally. Throughout the period of adaptation, the fish still prioritizes reacting to the new
environment and remains stressed,

Factors Causes Stress

 temperature
 DO level
 Feed
 Netting
 Overcrowded
 Foreign organism
 Bacteria

Temperature
Temperature is the main factor for the survival of any fish in the environment. Any fluctuation in the
temperature of the water body can cause a swear effect on fish health and growth.
Fish metabolism work at specific temperature properly,
Temperature variation affect the following things.

Symptoms of temperature stress

Temperature Effect Fish behavior

High temperature (above Oxygen level is too low Fish come at the surface of the water
35C
Low temperature (below enzymes that digest the food a Slow movement less feeding. found in
18) fish eats are very slow acting. bottom
Breathing
water temperature rises , the oxygen in the water is . This makes warmer water less habitable for
decreased fish
the temperature reaches the fish can no longer breath The fish dead
critical levels
 Reproduction
each species of fish has temperatures are not achieved, the fish will not reproduce
specific requirements for
water temperature.
Feeding
at optimal temperature , it is most likely to feed. The fish’s metabolism, oxygen demand and
activity will be functioning at healthy levels,

 Breathing
Fish breathe by passing water over their gills. The water flows into the fish’s mouth and is forced out
through its gills. Along this pathway, dissolved oxygen travels to the fish’s blood cells. However, as
water temperature rises, the oxygen in the water is decreased. This makes warmer water less habitable
for fish. If the temperature reaches critical levels, the fish can no longer breath
 Reproduction
To reproduce, each species of fish has specific requirements for water temperature. If these
temperatures are not achieved, the fish will not reproduce. Coldwater fish often breed at low
temperatures.
 Feeding
When a fish is in water that offers an optimal temperature for its body, it is most likely to feed. The
fish’s metabolism, oxygen demand and activity will be functioning at healthy levels, which will
encourage feeding. Since various fish prefer different temperatures.
 Mortality
While some fish prefer warmer temperatures, water that is too warm can be lethal to any fish. Higher
temperatures increase the demand for oxygen and decrease its supply. As temperatures rise, toxicity of
the water may also increase, as toxic substances become more soluble. Warmer water is also more
likely to grow fungus, which can be detrimental to fish life.

Stress due to Feed

 Poor growth
 slow movement
 attack of disease
 low immunity
 poor feed quality causes fungus disease

Treatment
Feed with a good shelf life
Set timetable for feeding
Give feed 3% of the body weight of fish properly

Defense with Aggressive behavior

Aggression refers to negative behavior or attitudes toward another, mainly by applying physical force.

Reasons of fish Aggression

 Territory
Fish territory, or in another word, defended areas are generally ruled by a single individual or
by breeding pairs. The guarded resource may include food, shelter, sexual partner or offspring. While
protecting their regions, fish often display aggressive behavior against their intruders. The territory
owner strikes at competing fish directly ending in a bite, or a bump

 Sex selection
Male and female fish both get involved in aggressive confrontation. Yet varying selection
pressures affecting each sex result in gender differences in aggressive syndrome during competition.
Aggressive syndrome is a social condition describing an individual's need to show his distaste or
dislike against certain individuals. Adult female fish usually gather in groups, including adult females
and non-reproductive males. Aggressive behavior is displayed in females especially when the female
fish attack directly on each other.

Treatment
Make sure the large place for fishes
Produce same species in one aquarium for sex selection

Defense against Bacterial and viral diseases

Defense mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms are the natural process that organisms use to separate themselves from unpleasant events, or actions.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.in different animals’ defensive mechanism should be different but
Occur. Defensive mechanism varies in every population,

Types of Defensive mechanism in fish

 physical defense system

 chemical defense system
 Biological
physical defense mechanism in fish
Physical barriers play an important role in preventing microbes from reaching tissues that are susceptible to
infection at the cellular level, barriers consist of cells that are tightly joined to prevent invaders from crossing
through to deeper tissue. For example, the endothelial cells that line blood vessels have very tight cell-to-cell
junctions, blocking microbes from gaining access to the bloodstream.

Types of physical defense mechanism

I. skin barrier
One of the body’s most important physical barriers is the skin barrier, which is composed of three layers of closely
packed cells. The thin upper layer is called the epidermis. A second, thicker layer, called the dermis, contains hair
follicles, sweat glands, nerves, and blood vessels. A layer of fatty tissue called the hypodermis lies beneath the
dermis and contains blood and lymph vessels mucous membrane

Fish skin are surrounded by a continuous layer of mucus which is the first physical, chemical and biological barrier
from infection and the first site of interaction between fish's skin cells and pathogens. The mucus composition is
very complex and includes numerous antibacterial factors secreted by fish's skin cells, such as immunoglobulins,
agglutinins, lectins, lysins and lysozymes. These factors have a very important role to discriminate between
pathogenic and commensal microorganisms and to protect fish from invading pathogens.

Chemical defense
Fish have specific chemical defense mechanism to control the foreign invader like bacteria Viruses and protozoa
etc. when micro-organism enter into the body after crossing the physical barrier then it enter into the body through
mouth or eyes ,chemical defense system activated and it kill foreign invader through chemicals, when it enter
through eyes, fish eyes has lysosome which kill the foreign invader and fish .if it enter into the body through feed
and mouth and reach in stomach ,stomach has HCL
Acid and it kills the foreign invader.
defense mechanism through immunity

A biological defense mechanism is a mechanism that controls the antigen through different types of the
immunity system,

Production of immune cell

 Primary organ (Thymus, Head kidney)

 secondary organ (interior kidney, spleen, Mucosa)

Types of immunity
 innate immunity
 adaptive immunity
 passive immunity

Innate immunity
Innate, or nonspecific, immunity is the defense system with which you were born. It protects you against all
antigens.
It acts as non-specifically. For Example, Phagocytes (macrophages, neutrophils), natural killer cells, and innate
lymphoid cells.
Neutrophils. work against bacteria
Basophils. work against micro-organism

Adaptive immunity
Adaptive immunity is also referred to as acquired immunity or specific immunity and is only found in
vertebrates. The adaptive immune response is specific to the pathogen presented.
Lymphocytes etc.,

Passive immunity
Passive immunity is provided when a fish is given antibodies to a disease rather than producing them through his
or her own immune system.
References
Physiology, endocrinology and chemical communication in aggressive behaviour of fishes - PMC
(nih.gov)
Immune response: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia