Physiological responses of marine fish to external attachment of pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT)

Abstract

Recently, the pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) is being used in studies as a method of using satellites for monitoring organisms. Because PSATs are attached directly on the organism being monitored, it is used mostly on larger species since the health of the organism is an important concern. For this reason, PSAT-based surveys are lacking in Korea with no studies on the physiological responses of organisms with PSAT attached. Accordingly, as a basic biomonitoring study using PSAT, the present study investigated the physiological changes in fish in response to the attachment of PSAT. The present study used red seabream (Pagrus major) and Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) as the experimental fish. The PSAT was attached to the muscle below the experimental fish’s dorsal fin using a mono filament (n = 3). To investigate the changes in physiological responses according to PSAT attachment, blood samples were collected from all experimental fish, including the control (n = 3), at 1, 7, 14 and 21 days after the attachment. Upon blood sample collection, whole blood was used to measure hematocrit and hemoglobin levels. After separating the plasma, the separated plasma was used to measure the GOT, GPT, glucose, total protein, and cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, the plasma cortisol, superoxide dismutase, and catalase levels were measured using the ELISA method. The results showed that attaching the tag did not have any impact on the immunity and stress response of the experimental fish. The findings in this study also demonstrated the possibility of using PSAT for studying relatively smaller species living in the coastal waters of Korea. © 2018, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute. All rights reserved.