Addressing current health issues confronting warm water culture of yellowtail kingfish

Publication Date

2020

Series Number

FRDC Project No 2016-117

Publisher

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

City

Canberra

ISBN

978-0-6486988-0-7

Abstract

This project addressed a number of key issues associated with the culture of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi, YTK) in warm water, including optimising the use of hydrogen peroxide (which is more toxic in warm water), investigating alternatives to the management of monogenean flukes (Neobenedenia girellae and Zeuxapta seriolae) in warm water and several aspects relating to a better understanding of the bacteria which cause disease in YTK, including an assessment of an industry-funded autogenous vaccine against the pathogenic bacteria Photobacterium damsellae subspecies damsellae.

Our study investigating the effect of hydrogen peroxide dose and water temperature has been submitted to the journal Aquaculture. In summary, this study demonstrated that whilst 340 mg/L of hydrogen peroxide is close to the lethal limit for YTK in warm water, very few of the measured physiological responses in the fish were able to predict this. Lower doses of hydrogen peroxide remain effective and carry a wide safety margin. Acknowledging this information, industry have subsequently modified their commercial bathing protocols for YTK.

Whilst these modified bathing practices provide a greater safety margin for the fish, they remain labour intensive and costly to perform. Work conducted under this project to investigate alternatives to peroxide bathing included the use of herbal extracts, freshwater bathing and further work on palatable praziquantel. In collaboration with the Tokyo University of Marine Science, Mr Jack Ingelbrecht was awarded first class honours for his work on herbal extracts to manage monogenean flukes. He demonstrated that both garlic and rosemary extracts were effective at reducing recruitment of Zeuxapta oncomiracidia and treating existing infections of this parasite. This work has been accepted for publication in the journal Aquaculture. Ms Joan Gao demonstrated that garlic was not effective at reducing recruitment of Neobenedenia oncomiracidia. Based on this work, the use of herbal extracts will be investigated in further detail in collaboration with industry under FRDC2017-030.

Keywords

Yellowtail kingfish, Seriola lalandi, Parasitism, Monogeneans, Flukes, Zeuxapta seriolae, Neobenedenia girellae, Hydrogen peroxide, Praziquantel, Palatability, Herbs, Garlic, Rosemary, Disease, Bacteria, Photobacterium damsellae, Vibrio harveyi, Autogenous vaccine, Vaccine efficacy

Disciplines

Aquaculture and Fisheries | Bacteria | Bacterial Infections and Mycoses | Bacteriology | Climate | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology | Marine Biology | Natural Resource Economics | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Parasitology | Survival Analysis

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