TITLE:
The Effects of Rearing Temperature on American Glass Eels
AUTHORS:
Carrie J. Blakeslee, Heather S. Galbraith, Robert M. Deems
KEYWORDS:
Eel Culture, Gas Bubble Disease, Juvenile Eels
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.9 No.8,
August
31,
2018
ABSTRACT: American eels are declining throughout their range requiring a better understanding of physiological requirements of all life stages and optimal conditions for laboratory rearing and aquaculture. American glass eels (Anguilla rostrata) were housed for 3 weeks at 14°C, 18°C, 22°C, or 26°C to determine optimal juvenile rearing temperature in the laboratory. All treatments exhibited weight gain over the course of the study except the 14°C treatment; however, there were only marginal differences in final weight between the 18°C and 14°C treatments and no differences in length. Variation in length and weight generally increased as temperature increased with significant differences in the standard error of weight between 14°C and the 22°C and 26°C treatments and between 18°C and 26°C. Mortality was significantly greater than expected by chance at 26°C(7 deaths) and no mortality was observed at 14°C. Body condition (based on the residuals from the weight-length relationships), conversely, was lowest in the 14°C treatment. Considering all response variables, optimal laboratory rearing conditions were observed between 18°C - 22°C. Within a week of experimentation, evidence of gas bubble disease was observed and by completion noted in all treatments except at 14°C, likely as a function of decreased gas solubility at warmer temperatures. Levels of total gas pressure (103% - 108%) and Δp (28 - 54 mm Hg) values may account for the gas bubbles observed.